The Ukrainian Army’s General Staff reported that Ukrainian troops downed a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-25 ground attack aircraft in the area of Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, on 10 June.
“[In the Pokrovsk sector, Ukraine’s] Defense Forces are exerting maximum effort to exhaust and restrain the Russian invaders. Preliminary losses for the aggressor in this sector amounted to 198 occupiers killed and wounded. An Su-25 aircraft, one tank, a combat armored vehicle, a cannon, and four vehicles were destroyed [on 10 June],” the General Staff wrote.
The Sukhoi Su-25 Grach (“Frogfoot” under NATO reporting name), is a subsonic ground-attack jet aircraft designed in the Soviet era to provide close air support for ground troops.
On June 11, in another incident, a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-34 aircraft crashed in the mountains of North Ossetia during a training flight, resulting in the deaths of both pilots, according to the Russian government-funded TASS news agency, citing the Russian Defense Ministry. North Ossetia is a southern region of Russia bordering northern Georgia.
The plane reportedly went down in an uninhabited area, causing no ground damage, and a technical malfunction is believed to be the preliminary cause of the crash.
The Sukhoi Su-34, known in NATO as the Fullback, is a Soviet-origin Russian twin-seat supersonic fighter-bomber designed for all-weather, medium-range missions. Primarily, the Su-34 targets ground and naval forces in tactical operations.
The visually confirmed losses tracker Oryx blog says Russia lost at least 31 Su-25s, while Ukraine lost 17 Frogfoots. Russia’s losses of the Su-34s stand at 26 Su-34 and one Su-34M, as per Oryx.
According to the estimations of the Ukrainian Army’s General Staff, Russia lost a total of 359 aircraft during its ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine:
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