Video footage emerged online shows a Russian pilot filming himself after ejecting from his stricken combat jet, visible in the distance spiraling out of control and in flames.
A video recently emerged online, taken by a Russian pilot’s perspective, shows the aftermath of the ejection during a combat mission. The pilot shows his damaged jet as it falls towards the ground, and then shows himself descending with the parachute, first while still high above the clouds and then closer to the ground shortly before touching down.
The video, first shared by Russian military blogger Kirill Fedorov on his War History Weapons Telegram channel, starts above the clouds by showing the combat jet (that appears to be a variant of the Flanker family of fighters and fighter-bombers) in the distance, in a flat spin towards the ground and apparently with an engine engulfed in flames.
A video appeared online of a Russian pilot who was shot down but managed to eject. He filmed his and his aircraft’s fall on his phone.
As the ejection occurred above the clouds and at a considerable altitude, it could either be the pilot of a Su-30/Su-35 fighter or a Su-34… pic.twitter.com/dwYpgLUlmI
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 5, 2024
The video
It’s not exactly clear when or where the video was filmed, nor what caused the incident. It’s not even clear what type of Flanker is involved, as the video is shot from a distance and the quality is very low. The lack of the distinctive canards found on the Su-30 fighter (Flanker-C/G/H according to NATO’s reporting name) and on the Su-34 fighter-bomber (Fullback for NATO) seems to exclude them from the contention.
The fact that the video only shows a single pilot after the ejection from the stricken plane further points to a single-seat variant of the Flanker family, thus hinting at either the older Su-27 (the “original” Flanker) or at the newer Su-35 multirole fighter (Flanker-E/M for NATO). The Su-27 has been used intensively by Ukraine in its defense from the Russian aggression, along with the smaller MiG-29, but has seen a more limited use by the Russian Air Force.
In contrast, the newer (and more expensive, with reports of costs ranging from $43 to $85 million apiece) Su-35 has seen a more widespread use in the ranks of the VVS (Voenno-vozdushnye sily Rossii, Russian Air Force), that led to also suffering more losses (with at least 7 confirmed airframe losses, according to the Oryx open-source tracking group).
After showing the flat spinning jet, the video then pans to the pilot, showing him dangling from the typical red and white parachute while still wearing his oxygen mask, as he’s still at high altitude above the clouds.
The video also briefly shows the survival kit below the pilot, which includes an inflatable raft.
The video then skips to a lower altitude, when the pilot can finally remove his oxygen mask and raise the visor. He then starts talking to the camera, although the words can’t be clearly understood. The pilot’s words, mixed with multiple expletives, appear to hint at a sudden attack, and that he’s glad to be over land. As previously mentioned, it’s not clear from the video what caused the incident and where it happened. The relatively relaxed attitude of the pilot seems to point to a location behind Russian lines, or over Russian-occupied zones of Ukraine.
Russian planes have been using UMPK (Universal Module for Planning and Correction) glide bombs to target Ukrainian cities, often releasing them while still over Russian territory. The remarks about being over land could point to the flight being previously closer to the Black Sea or over the water. Another possibility could be the Sea of Azov between Crimea and Russia, which after the occupation of Mariupol is now bordered entirely by Russian-occupied territories.
The fact that the video starts from high altitude could further point to the launch of glide weapons from behind the frontlines, at a safe distance from Ukrainian Surface-to-Air batteries. However, the distance from the frontlines is not always a guarantee of safety. In fact, Ukrainian forces have shot down multiple Russian planes at long range, including very long range attacks against a A-50 radar plane and Il-22 command post flying over the Sea of Azov, probably using either Patriot missile or modified Soviet-era S-200 (SA-5 Gammon for NATO).
User Damian Twardosz on X (formerly twitter) has geolocated the video to an area near the city of Chaplynka, in the Russian-occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine, also close to occupied Crimea. The user further indicated that the incident might have taken place on December 22, 2023. On that day, Ukraine reported to have shot down three Russian Su-34s, but it’s still possible that either they mis-identified their target or this is an entirely different incident.
22 december 2023 46.295742, 33.530784 pic.twitter.com/Z6ymCVg0Mz
— Damian Twardosz (@Baterial1) August 4, 2024
Moreover, Russian planes have also fallen victims to numerous friendly fire incidents, and multiple losses have been blamed on technical malfunctions or training incidents, further expanding the possible causes behind this incident.
Previous cases
In any case, this is not the first video showing the first-person view of an ejecting jet pilot emerging from the war in Ukraine. An even more impressive video surfaced in October 2022 (but reportedly dating back to the summer of 2022) showing the full sequence of ejection from a stricken Su-25 Grach (Russian for “rook”, Frogfoot for NATO).
The video, recorded by the helmet cam of the pilot, showed a Su-25 flying at very low level flying before departing controlled flight, followed by the ejection of the canopy and then of the pilot. The video briefly captured the damaged plane mid-air, with what appeared as a damaged vertical stabilizer and flaming engine.
Seconds later, the stricken Su-25 hit the ground in a fireball and then the pilot violently landed in the grass.
The video ended with the pilot standing in the field, observing the column of smoke rising from the crash site and his own red and white parachute on the ground.
