JAKARTA - The Ukrainian military claims it destroyed one of Russia's newest and most advanced fighter jets in a drone attack on a military base deep within Russian territory.
The Sukhoi Su-57 fighter, dubbed Felon by NATO, was attacked on the runway of an airbase in the Astrakhan region, nearly 600 kilometers behind the front line of fighting in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to reports by the defense intelligence agency (GUR).
Reported by CNN, Monday, June 10, GUR uploaded satellite images on its Telegram channel to support its claims, by writing, "The image shows that on June 7, Su-57 is still intact, but on June 8, craters due to explosions and hotspots typically appeared nearby. that as a result of damage caused by the fire."
The Su-57 is a supersonic fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, double-engined, and is seen as Moscow's response to Western stealth jets such as the US Air Force's F-22 Raptor.
But its development, which began in 2002, according to the US military, was slow, and the Su-57 crashed during a test flight in 2019.
The Russian military received its first Su-57 in 2020, according to a state-run TASS news agency report, which said the jet was previously "tested" in fighting conditions in Syria in 2018.
The Ukrainian Telegram post recorded the ability of Su-57 to carry Kh-59 and Kh-69 cruise missiles, which the jet can launch towards Ukraine from safe Russian airspace.
Although experts cast doubt on Su-57's capabilities compared to the F-22, Russian officials praised his role in the attack on Ukraine.
In the 2022 TASS report, then Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu said Su-57 had shown himself brilliantly.
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TASS reports that in 2022 Russian troops will receive a total of 22 Su-57 by the end of this year.
If reports of attacks by Ukrainian drones far in Russian territory are proven true, this marks another success of the low-cost drone Kyiv taking over high-value Russian assets. The price of the Su-57 is estimated at $35 million to USD54 million, according to the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
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