A RUSSIAN fighter jet has been shot down by its own side in a botched friendly fire incident, according to reports.
It comes days after a Russian pilot nearly died in an embarrassing friendly fire near miss in the latest humiliation for Putin’s failing war against Ukraine.
Russia shared footage of SU-25 ground attack planes hitting targets in Ukraine
Another Su-25 warplane flew at a low altitude as rockets were fired into the sky days ago – almost killing a Russian pilot
East2WestRussian Su-25 plane (stock)[/caption]
Ukraine’s air force commander said he could “confidently” say the aircraft was taken out by Russian forces.
The Su-25 jet is suspected to have been downed by a Russian Buk-M3 surface to air missile system.
Early Russian reports triumphantly said a Ukrainian attack Su-25 had been hit.
But Ukrainian General Mykola Oleshchuk said: “I can confidently say that it was not Ukrainian air defence that shot down the Russian Su-25 attack aircraft.
“These were clear and coordinated actions of Russian anti-aircraft gunners, for which many thanks from the entire Ukrainian people.”
Russian reports later claimed that the plane had crashed while flying low in poor visibility.
The botched attack reportedly happened near Yelyzavetivka, in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine.
It follows the extraordinary incident when shocking footage caught a Russian fighter pilot barely escaping death after a rocket launcher was fired into the sky as an Su-25 warplane flew overhead.
Miraculously, the plane was not hit in the dramatic ambush.
Russia has suffered a succession of embarrassing friendly fire nightmares during Putin’s costly war against Ukraine.
In another recent known case, Russian Major-General Vladimir Zavadsky, 45, was killed by one of his own landmines after being shot at with friendly mortar fire while driving a military vehicle captured from the Ukrainians.
In a separate incident, a Russian Su-34 bomber was damaged in a kamikaze drone strike on a military airfield in Rostov region, which borders Ukraine.
Video showed the drone attack on Morozovsk.
East2WestMiraculously, the Su-25 pilot survived the dramatic firing by his own side[/caption]
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