Russia’s Warplanes Are Burning, Crashing, and Disappearing-13 Lost in Five Weeks

Key Points:

• Russia has lost approximately 13 military aircraft over five weeks, including Su-34 fighter-bombers, Su-30SM fighters, a Tu-95MS strategic bomber, and a Su-57 stealth fighter, due to Ukrainian strikes and aviation accidents.
• Ukrainian forces targeted multiple Russian airbases with drones and Neptune cruise missiles, destroying or damaging at least seven Su-34 bombers in October alone, which represents nearly one-third of Russia’s new Su-34 deliveries over the past year.
• Aviation accidents also contributed to losses, including a Tu-95MS bomber crash in late September that killed six crew members, and crashes involving Su-30SM fighters and a Su-57 stealth fighter at Russian airbases.
• The reported aircraft losses span a wide geographic area across Russia, from Kaliningrad in the west to the Far East, highlighting vulnerabilities in Russian military aviation infrastructure.
• Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, open-source intelligence has visually documented over 200 Russian military aircraft destroyed or damaged, with the Su-34 bomber being the most frequently lost type.