Drone Attacks Cause Edgy Putin Missile Crews To Shoot Down Russian Warplane

The Ukrainian military on Dec. 29, 2022, sent more explosive-laden drones to strike a Russian air force base outside Moscow.

Photo Insert: Rumors circulating on Telegram spooked Russian air defenders around Engels, causing them to open fire on a blip on their radars—a blip that turned out to be a Russian Su-27.

It was the fourth such raid in a month—and it apparently rattled Russian air defenders. Chatter on social media in the chaos following the attack supposedly led to a Russian missile battery shooting down a Russian air force Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet, David Axe reported for Forbes.

“The alleged shoot-down, if it happened—and that’s a big if—could mirror a possibly similar incident that occurred over Kyiv in the first heady days of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine that started in late February. In that incident, jumpy Ukrainian air defenders may have shot down a Ukrainian air force Su-27. We don’t know a lot about the apparent Dec. 29 raid on Engels, a bomber base 400 miles southeast of Moscow. We know more about previous attacks on the same base on Dec. 26 and Dec. 5,” Axe added.

Russian media confirmed that Ukrainian drones were responsible for the earlier raids. It’s possible the drones were 1970s-vintage, jet-propelled Tupolev Tu-141 reconnaissance vehicles that the Ukrainians pulled out of storage, packed with explosives and programmed to strike Engels.

The Dec. 5 raid on Engels also damaged a Tupolev Tu-95 bomber while a simultaneous strike on Dyagilevo air base, 100 miles southeast of Moscow, damaged a Tupolev Tu-22M bomber. Three Russian personnel died in the Dyagilevo raid.

It seems the Dec. 26 attack mostly was a bust for the Ukrainians. Russian air defenders reported shooting down the approaching drone or drones. Three Russian troops reportedly died from the falling debris.

The Dec. 29 raid apparently also failed to damage Engels. Roman Busargin, the governor of the surrounding Saratov Oblast, confirmed the destruction of a Ukrainian drone and denied reports that local students were evacuating their schools.

Rumors circulating on social media app Telegram spooked Russian air defenders around Engels, causing them to open fire on a blip on their radars—a blip that turned out to be a Russian Su-27.

The pilot died, according to the rumors. There’s certainly precedent for a friendly-fire shoot-down. On July 17, air defenses around the city of Alchevsk in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine shot down a Russian air force Sukhoi Su-34M—one of the air force’s best jets.

Russian propagandist Yevgeny Poddubny captured the incident on video—and a separate video of the wreckage confirmed the plane’s identity.

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