Strana 29
Aircraft Losses
Aircraft losses for both sides were balanced
during the reporting period, but they are much
more significant for Ukraine. In April, it lost
two fighter jets, which are of immense value.
Worse, in one case, the pilot also died.
This happened on Saturday, April 12th,
reportedly in the Sumy region, when an F-16
fighter was shot down and its pilot, Captain
Pavlo Ivanov, was killed. This is the second
F-16 Ukraine has lost—the first was most
likely destroyed by its own air defense, and for
a while, the same was suspected in this case as
well. However, this time the F-16 was destroyed
by a Russian system, likely the S-400. The
Russian system launched three missiles at
the Ukrainian aircraft. The pilot managed to
evade the first one, but the second or third hit
the plane. The second Ukrainian loss occurred
on Monday, April 28th, in the morning near
the village of Moshny in the Cherkasy region.
While repelling an attack by Russian drones,
a Su-27S1M fighter with fuselage number “blue
36” from the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade
crashed for unknown reasons. Its pilot, Captain
Nikolai Klubnikin, safely ejected.
Russian losses during the reporting period
were non-combat in nature. On Wednesday,
April 2nd, a Tu-22M3 bomber crashed near the
village of Buret in the Usolsky district of the
Irkutsk region. According to the Military Watch
server, it probably came from the 200th Heavy
Bomber Aviation Regiment. All four crew
members ejected, but Major Rasul Zhantuev did
not survive. In another incident, the canopy of
a Su-34 fighter-bomber broke off during
flight—allegedly at an altitude of 10,000 meters.
The pilots quickly descended and managed to
make an emergency landing. However, both
crew members suffered serious injuries
from glass fragments. It’s unclear when this
accident occurred, but some reports suggest
Tuesday, April 8th.
The third Russian loss was due to a saboteur
who around April 24th set a Su-27, carrying
the fuselage number “blue 35”, on fire at the
Centraľnyj airfield in Rostov-on-Don. However,
this was a decommissioned aircraft that had
been sitting in place since August 2021.
UKRAINE
A destroyed winter stadium in Kherson.
A beautiful example of Ukrainian digital camouflage on a MiG-29 fighter
jet with fuselage number “white 74” from the 114th Tactical Aviation Brigade.
Captain Pavlo Ivanov, who died when the F-16 was shot down.
He had transitioned from flying the Su-25 to American-made fighter jets.
Interesting artwork
on the tails
of MiG-29 fighter jets.
A Ukrainian Su-25 in action.
INFO Eduard
29
June 2025