Milbloggers claim Ukrainian F-16 downed Russian Su-34 planes

A Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO reporting name Fullback) fighter-bomber was shot down over Ukraine on Saturday, according to a popular Telegram channel reportedly run by a former Russian military aviator.

The Fighterbomber Channel shared an apparent tribute to the downed Su-34 with a black-and-white photo of the versatile aircraft and the caption, “The earth is the sky, brothers.”

The Russian Defense Ministry made no official statement on Saturday about the alleged loss of the Su-34, and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry also made no comment. However, other pro-Moscow Telegram channels have provided additional details, claiming that the aircraft was shot down about 50 km (30 mi) from the front lines and that it was a US-made F-16 Fighting Falcon that downed the Russian fighter. bomber.

The Russian pilot did not survive, the milbloggers added.

F-16 Fighting Falcon wore its claws

NATO members Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway had all pledged to deliver more than 90 F-16s earlier this year after President Joe Biden approved the transfer of the US-made multi-role fighter jet.

The first twelve aircraft arrived in Ukraine in August. Although the Fighting Falcons have already been used to counter Russian missile and drone attacks, if confirmed this would be the first time the US aircraft has achieved an aerial victory against a manned fighter.

The Sukhoi Su-34 multirole attack aircraft is a twin-engine, two-seat, all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber originally developed for the Soviet Air Force in the 1980s. It was one of several Kremlin programs that were put on the back burner after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic crisis that followed.

The program was later revived and the Su-34 formally entered service in 2014. It is considered one of the Kremlin’s most capable warbirds, and the loss would be significant as Moscow struggles to maintain production of new aircraft to maintain the level.

News from an unlikely source

The Russian ‘milbloggers’ who regularly post on the social messaging app Telegram about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine have been surprisingly outspoken about the Kremlin’s setbacks in its so-called ‘special military operation’, while even being critical of the handling of the war.

This was certainly the case on Saturday morning, when the Telegram channel VDV for Fairness and Justice warned: “Soon there will be more such losses. NATO has sent F-16s on the hunt,” adding: “As a result, our infantry losses will increase.”

Surprisingly, however, the bloggers have not criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, but as with previous setbacks for the Russian military, anger is directed at those directly overseeing the conduct of the war.

“The first overt descent into Kremlin military policy came from military bloggers, and they have found a space in Russian public debate to criticize the military, but not Putin,” said Dr. Matthew Schmidt, professor national security at the university. of Nieuwe Haven. “They criticize the military and claim it is essentially incompetent, but we are pro-war and pro-Putin and he must fix the military’s incompetence.”

If the Su-34 downing turns out to be true, the milbloggers will likely remain quite vocal about the situation in Ukraine.

“This is a classic episode of where they are now, and the bloggers claim that this reflects the incompetence of the generals and that Putin should fire them and find new ones,” Schmidt added.

News from the front continues to circulate on Telegram faster than the Kremlin can officially comment, or in this case, put its spin on the story.

“Smartphones and social media give everyone a megaphone to instantly reach billions of people,” says social media and technology analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics. “This is especially a problem for totalitarian regimes because they are so dependent on lies and distorting the truth.”