Footage shared online confirms that Russia has lost another Su-35S. According to some unverified claims, the Flanker was shot down by an F-16.
Ukraine’s Air Force says it has shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jet during a morning operation on June 7, 2025.
According to a brief statement shared on the Air Force’s official Telegram channel, the aircraft was downed “as a result of a successful operation in the Kursk direction.” No additional details were provided about the engagement, and there has been no comment from the Russian side.
Interestinly, the silhouette of the Russian aircraft used by service in social media posts seems to the depict an Su-34 Fullback rather than a Su-35S (although the text says Su-35).
Who did this? 🤫 pic.twitter.com/rTjMYrhlQo
— Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) June 7, 2025
The shootdown has been acknowledged by several Russian military bloggers, while there has been no official statement from Moscow. Footage of the wreckage of the aircraft was circulated online.
Footage of a Russian Air Force Su-35 fighter burning on the ground after a successful shootdown over Kursk by the Ukrainian Air Force. pic.twitter.com/8yKDgHfVph
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 7, 2025
Another video, showing the mission launched by the Russian Aerospace Forces to rescue the pilot, has also been posted on social media.
Flattened Russian Su-35 fighter sitting in a Kursk field after being shot down by the Ukrainian Air Force yesterday. pic.twitter.com/0n0LhwRXaV
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 8, 2025
While the shootdown of the Su-35S does not appear to be in question, what remains unclear is whether the Flanker multirole jet was downed by a surface-to-air missile system or by a Ukrainian Air Force fighter, possibly an F-16, as suggested by some Ukrainian sources.
Russians confirmed that one Su-35S was destroyed in the Kursk sector. According to Ukrainian sources the Russian plane was downed by a F-16.
It is likel that Ukrainian F-16 fighters are already aided by type ASC890 surveillance crafts. Sweden announced to transfer two planes of… pic.twitter.com/d5VpCf7G8w
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) June 7, 2025
As of now, no evidence has emerged to confirm either claim; if confirmed, the shootdown would mark the first air-to-air kill by a Ukrainian Air Force F-16.
#Breaking: A flurry of reports suggest that a Ukrainian F-16AM shot down a Russian Su-35 with an AMRAAM this morning. If confirmed, it would mark the first air-to-air kill by a Ukrainian Viper. More significantly, it would mean that Russia’s top-tier Flanker was brought down by… pic.twitter.com/1YyuRHG2dW
— Air Power (@RealAirPower1) June 7, 2025
The Russian Aerospace Forces have lost at least 8 Su-35S since the beginning of the Ukrainian war, the first one on Apr. 3, 2022.
This brings the total number of VKS Su-35Ss lost since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion to at least eight. https://t.co/0LuVhLMXd5
— Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) June 7, 2025
The Su-35S “Flanker E” is the 4++ generation variant of the Su-27 Flanker aircraft.
The multirole aircraft features thrust-vectoring, radar-absorbent paint, Irbis-E passive electronically scanned array radar, IRST (Infra-Red Search and Track), the Khibiny radar jamming system along with the ability to use some interesting weapons, including the ultra-long range R-37M air-to-air missile that could target HVAA (High Value Air Assets), such as AWACS and tanker aircraft, as well as Kh-31 anti-radiation missile (ARM) in SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) missions.
2/2 A closer look at the Kh-31PM anti-radiation missile and the R-77-1 medium-range air-to-air missile under the jet’s starboard wing. The missiles are affixed to AKU-58U and AKU-170 airborne ejection units, respectively.
Video link:https://t.co/27Z7bGVnMI pic.twitter.com/2KXz3t0BIN
— Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) June 6, 2025
The shootdown follows last week’s major drone attack conducted by Ukraine’s SBU security service, which reportedly targeted more than 40 Russian military aircraft. That strike, which took place at multiple airfields, is believed to have damaged or destroyed a number of Tu-95 and Tu-22 bombers long-range platforms frequently used to launch missile attacks against Ukrainian territory.
