The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense shared a video on March 6 showing a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber shot down.
The Su-34 jet struck at Ukrainian military infrastructure and civilian residents in Kharkiv and Chernihiv, the defense ministry said. Unconfirmed reports claim three Russian Su-34s were downed by Ukraine- one each on March 1, March 5 and March 6.
The Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) is a modern Russian strike jet that was designed as a replacement for the Soviet-era Su-24 ‘Fencer’ in Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) service. It is equipped with 12 hardpoints for the carriage of a range of air-to-surface and air-to-air weaponry, including unguided, or ‘dumb’, weapons.
Based on the Su-27 Flanker air superiority fighter, the Su-34 has an armoured cockpit for side-by-side seating of its two-person crew. It is designed primarily for tactical deployment against ground and naval targets (tactical bombing/attack/interdiction roles, including against small and mobile targets) on solo and group missions in daytime and at night, under favourable and adverse weather conditions and in a hostile environment with counter-fire and electronic warfare (EW) counter-measures deployed, as well as for aerial reconnaissance.
