(PatriotWise.com) — A Russian Su-25 aircraft was shot down near Ukraine, according to a report by the defense and national security website 19FortyFive. A video circulating social media reportedly captured the remains of the aircraft as the Ukrainian soldier in full gear traverses the area.
Metal from the “Frogfoot” Soviet-era plane can be seen on the ground. The jet was originally manufactured in 1978 and was designed for speed to counter armored ground vehicles like tanks. While it worked on blowing tanks up, the ferocity of the aircraft gave it the nickname the “flying tank.”
Dr. Robert Farley, a military analyst, reportedly wrote that the Frogfoot has been used by both Russians and Ukrainians for the power it brings to the battlefield. But the dated aircraft is being outmaneuvered by its even faster cousin, the American A-10 “Warthog.”
When Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, Ukraine had used the Frogfoot but lost several after Russia supplied the Donbas regions with air defense systems.
The video was first distributed on a Ukrainian-backed Telegram channel where the soldier allegedly reported that the pilot of the aircraft was alive and recovered. No other information about the incident was mentioned. Counter-extremism researcher Jack Bucky speculates that the footage was taken in the fall of 2022 because of the snow on the ground, but the snow might also be dependent on location, which was not disclosed.
Another Su-25 from Russia was shot down and documented by the Ukrainian 110th Mechanized Brigade. The pilot was recovered alive, and the military had said that they downed the plane in retaliation for an earlier strike on an industrial facility. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky lauded the brigade for its success.
Russia has also been losing its aircraft at an alarming rate in Ukraine, failing to achieve air superiority, according to an earlier report.
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