Ukrainian Su-25 jets designed to support ground forces were spotted using American Zuni air-to-ground rockets on the pictures published by Ukraine’s Air Force commander on 1 May, 2023. The US announced a supply of 4000 of these rockets in January 2023.
The photo of the rockets installed on Ukraine’s Su-25 jet was published by Ukraine’s Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk. “[Revenge] for children in Uman,” says the inscription written on the rocket by Ukrainian pilots. It refers to the latest Russian air strike on Ukraine’s high-rise residential building in the central-Ukrainian city of Uman, which killed 23 people, including five children.
The other inscription says, “Russians, burn in hell for your crimes.”
At the beginning of January 2023, the USA announced the transfer of unguided 127-mm air-to-surface missiles Zuni to Ukraine in one of the defense aid packages. It was reported that the Zuni missiles, developed in the 1950s, should be adapted for launches from both Ukrainian airplanes and helicopters. Four months after the announcement of the transfer of these missiles to Ukraine, they were first spotted in Ukraine together with the Su-25 attack.
Russian missile strikes kill civilians overnight in central Ukraine