Over the past five weeks, Russian military aviation has lost approximately 13 aircraft , according to analysts at The Defence Blog .
These include at least seven Su-34 fighter-bombers destroyed on the ground by Ukrainian missiles and drones, a Tu-95MS strategic bomber and two Su-30SM fighters that crashed, as well as a Su-57 fifth-generation fighter, which, according to available data, burned out during engine start-up.
The Ukrainian open data analysis project "Oko Gora" recorded the loss of 11 Russian combat aircraft and one helicopter in October alone, with two more Su-34s damaged. Including the Tu-95MS crash on September 29, the total number of aircraft lost since the end of September has reached approximately 13. It is noted that the most significant losses were suffered by Su-34s—the aircraft most frequently used by Russia to carry out glide bomb strikes on Ukrainian cities and frontline positions. On October 4, drones from the Security Service of Ukraine attacked the Khanskaya airbase in the Republic of Adygea, hitting Su-34 and Su-35 fighter jets, as well as an ammunition depot.
On the night of October 14-15, Ukrainian Neptune missiles struck the Borisoglebsk Air Base in the Voronezh Region, destroying four Su-34s and seriously damaging two more. On October 29, another Neptune missile strike destroyed two more Su-34s at the Marinovka Air Base in the Volgograd Region.
"Thus, confirmed Su-34 losses for the month amount to seven destroyed aircraft (or nine, if you include the two damaged in Borisoglebsk). October losses alone account for approximately a third of the annual production volume," the publication writes.
On September 29, a Tu-95MS bomber crashed during takeoff near the Ukrainka airbase in the Amur region, Russia's Far East: six of the seven crew members died.
Importantly, Russia no longer produces the Tu-95, an aircraft type used to launch Kh-101 cruise missiles at Ukraine. This is the first loss of a Tu-95MS in a fatal accident since 2015.
On October 21, a Su-30SM fighter jet crashed during a training flight in the Kaliningrad region, and another Su-30SM was lost on the same day.
Source: Kanal13
