Russia has launched large-scale military retaliation against Ukraine in response to the so-called "spider web" operation launched by Ukraine against Russia. Russian missiles and drones have launched large-scale air strikes on many targets in Ukraine. The Ukrainian capital Kiev has experienced continuous explosions. Even Lviv, which is far west of Ukraine, is close to the Polish border, has been bombed by Russian troops. It can be seen that Russia is indeed "harsh" this time.
However, what is very surprising is that Russia has just begun to "beat" but has suffered a big loss again. On the 7th local time, just as the Russian bombing of Ukraine was still in full swing, Ukraine publicly announced the shooting down of a Russian Su-35 fighter jet! If this news is confirmed later, then this will actually be another big blow to the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The Su-35 fighter is the most important fighter of the Russian Air Force and the only fighter in service that meets the "four and a half generations" standards. Its position in the Russian Aerospace Forces is second only to the most advanced Su-57 fighter. This kind of fighter jet is extremely valuable to the Russian Air Force, with only more than 100 aircraft in total, and it is estimated that it will be very "harmful" to lose one. It is worth noting that according to the Ukrainian army, this Su-35 fighter jet was shot down over Kursk. This shows that even if Ukrainian Fang is under the bombardment of the Russian army, the Ukrainian army can still threaten targets within Russia. If this situation is confirmed, then this shock to Russia is probably quite large.
Although the Ukrainian army has not disclosed the specific situation yet, some analysts said that the Su-35 fighter jet was shot down by the Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet. This possibility exists, why do you say so? First of all, after years of war, the air defense missile system in the hands of the Ukrainian air defense forces has been consumed in large quantities. The air defense missiles that can deal with fighter jets of the Su-35 are basically used to protect Kiev or other high-value areas and facilities and equipment, and are unlikely to be deployed in front-line areas near Kursk. Furthermore, the Su-35 is not the Su-34. Air superiority fighter jets such as Su-35 generally do not conduct ground strikes. In other words, their flight altitude will not be very low. The air defense firepower in the hands of the Ukrainian army in the front line is probably difficult to truly threaten the Su-35.
At present, the Ukrainian Air Force has equipped the F-16MLU fighter jet obtained from Europe. The Ukrainian Air Force's F-16MLU fighter jet has the ability to carry AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles, and in theory has the combat capability to intercept and kill the Su-35. As for the fact that other Ukrainian fighter jets could threaten the Su-35, if the Russian pilots were "careless" and the Ukrainian F-16 "surprisingly" launched a strike using AIM-120's external line of sight missiles, there was a possibility of shooting down the Su-35.
Su-35 fighter jets, as the backbone of the Russian Air Force, have lost as many as eight since the war started. As early as 2022, at the beginning of the war, there was a record of Su-35 fighter jets being shot down. However, as the war deepened, the Russian Aerospace Forces learned about war from the war and used fighter jets, including the Su-35, and it has become more and more mature. We have actually not seen a record of important Russian fighter jets being shot down for a long time. To be honest, the author was quite surprised that the Su-35 was shot down this time. However, what is the specific situation, we may still need to wait for Russia to respond to the matter.
