On Monday, two Su-35S fighter jets had collided over the Kursk region, reported pro-war propagandist Ilya Tumanov on his Fighterbomber Telegram channel Monday evening.
The pro-Kremlin “military correspondent” Yuri Kotenok confirmed the information around the same time.
Later, z-blogger Voevoda Veshat added that one of the pilots was killed as a result of the incident, while the other had evacuated. Although the circumstances of the incident are unclear, the blogger blamed Kyiv saying that Ukrainians “will answer for this.”
No Ukrainian spokesman has confirmed any military action on its part, along with the Russian Ministry of Defense failing to provide any comments.
The Sukhoi Su-35S (NATO: Super Flanker) is a Russian twin-engined fourth-generation multirole fighter featuring thrust-vectoring capability developed from the Soviet-era Su-27 Flanker.
The aircrafts are frequently deployed to provide cover for Su-34 (NATO: Fullback) fighter bombers, in support of ground forces, to intercept Ukrainian drones and missiles, and to engage Ukrainian air defense systems.
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) sites indicate that the Russian air forces have received around 100 Su-35S, along with a recent batch delivery on Aug. 27.
The Oryx OSINT site had previously estimated that eight Su-35S have been lost since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
On Sept. 2, Ukrainian forces destroyed a MiG-29 fighter (NATO: Fulcrum) near the Millerovo airfield in the Rostov region and a Ka-27 helicopter (NATO: Helix) close to the Yeysk airfield in the Krasnodar Krai.
Previously, in July, a Ukrainian F-16 brought down a Russian fighter in an air-to-air confrontation, a first such success. While the Russian aircraft was not identified, it was thought to be a Super Flanker.