Monitoring channels reported around 9 p.m. that a multirole, supersonic Su-34 took off from the Russian military airfield “Maykop.” The jet was then spotted near Snake Island.
Later, Russian aviation blogger and propagandist Fighterbomber wrote that the aircraft crashed and the pilots apparently did not survive.
Ukrainian monitoring channels subsequently reported the Su-34 was shot down near Snake Island. Officials have not yet confirmed the incident.
Earlier, investigative analysts identified the person behind the Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber, which focuses on Russian military aviation and openly supports the war. He is Capt. Ilya Tumanov of the Russian Armed Forces, from Voronezh. Until at least early 2020, Tumanov served at the “Baltimore” air base in Voronezh as a squadron navigator’s assistant on a Su-34 and was deployed to Syria. He often reports Russian aviation losses quickly, even as Russia’s Defense Ministry seeks to keep such information under wraps.
