Elite Jet Keeps Crashing — Moscow Panics

Russia’s most advanced fighter jet keeps getting shot down over Ukraine — and the numbers tell a story Moscow doesn’t want the world to hear.

At a Glance

Ukraine says it has shot down 25 Russian Su-35 fighter jets since the 2022 invasion, but only 8 losses are confirmed by open-source trackers with photo or video proof.
Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed two Su-35 losses in May and June 2026 — one over the Black Sea and one in Russia’s Kursk region.
Russia has reportedly built more Su-35s than it started the war with, but confirmed losses are still draining one of its best air assets.
Both sides have strong reasons to spin the numbers, making the true loss count hard to pin down — but the confirmed losses alone are significant.

Two More Su-35s Down in 2026

Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed the loss of a Russian Su-35 fighter jet over the Black Sea near Kherson on May 21, 2026. The military described it as a “negative take-off,” though it did not confirm whether Ukrainian forces shot it down or whether it was an accident. Then, on June 7, 2026, Ukraine’s Air Force confirmed another Su-35 was downed in Russia’s Kursk region, with video of the wreckage emerging shortly after.

The Su-35 is one of Russia’s best fighter jets — a fourth-generation aircraft built to dominate the skies. Each one costs roughly $85 million. Losing even a handful matters. Ukraine’s military says it has shot down 25 of them since the war began in 2022. That’s a bold claim, and it comes with a major catch: the numbers are disputed.

What the Evidence Actually Shows

The open-source tracking project Oryx, which only counts losses backed by photos or video, lists exactly 8 confirmed Su-35 jets destroyed as of January 2026. That’s a big gap from Ukraine’s claim of 25. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated Russia had lost more than five Su-35s by May 2023 alone, which at least supports the baseline that real losses are happening. But no independent source has confirmed the full 25.

Ukraine’s broader claim of 435 total Russian aircraft destroyed is also viewed skeptically by most analysts. In wars like this, both sides have strong reasons to inflate enemy losses — it boosts morale at home and shapes international support. Oryx’s total count of confirmed Russian airplane losses stands at 361, well below Ukraine’s figure. That gap doesn’t mean Ukraine is lying, but it does mean the 25 Su-35 claim should be treated as an upper bound, not a verified fact.

Russia Builds Faster Than It Loses — For Now

Here’s the twist that makes this story bigger than a scorecard: Russia has reportedly produced enough Su-35s during the war to replace its confirmed losses and then some. Its defense industry has kept the assembly lines running even under Western sanctions. That means the confirmed loss of 8 — or even 25 — jets hasn’t yet crippled Russia’s air power. But every lost pilot and every destroyed airframe is a cost that adds up over time.

Ukraine's overnight strike wave 30/06-01.07 2026

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Ukraine ran one of its widest long-range strike cycles of the summer… pic.twitter.com/5yYQGohGUF

— WarDroneX (@WarDroneXX) July 1, 2026

Wars have always been fought on two fronts — the battlefield and the information war. Ukraine has every incentive to report high enemy losses, and Russia has every incentive to deny them. What’s clear is this: Russia’s premier fighter jet is being shot down over Ukrainian skies. Eight losses are confirmed with hard evidence. More are likely. And no matter what the final number turns out to be, the fact that one of Russia’s most advanced jets keeps “falling out of the sky,” as one defense outlet put it, is a story worth watching closely.