A $36 million Russian Su-34 bomber was reported to be shot down by its own forces. A friendly fire accident took place over the Luhansk region in Ukraine on Monday.
The fighter jet went down near Alchevsk, in an occupied area. Alchevsk is currently under the occupation of Moscow and separatist forces.
Russian Su-34 fighter jet
Images of the still smoking plane were shared by the Strategic Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the video, the Russian cameraman talks about a Ukrainian plane being shot down. But all the physical inscriptions identify the Su-34 as belonging to Russia’s Air Force.
According to the Ukrainian news outlet Glavred, the video of the downed Su-34 aircraft was first posted on local outlets by Russians believing that a Ukrainian plane had been shot down. After it was determined that a Russian bomber was downed the video was deleted.
A Russian Telegram user named Ruslan wrote: “The jet is ours, unfortunately. Sometimes it happens. I heard the info from a friend, I thought bulls**t, but it was confirmed.”
