It is the Russian fighter with the most advanced technology, the Sukhoi Su-57, a powerful and fundamental weapon in Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, which Kiev announced it had shot down in recent hours: It is the first time since the beginning of the war that Ukrainian forces have hit one of these aircraft. An episode that seems to confirm the trend of Ukrainian military operations with attacks that are going ever deeper into Russia after the swarm of drones that Kiev managed to push into North Ossetia in recent days.
Meanwhile, according to the United States, the Russian military offensive around Kharkiv “is stalled”, a result according to the White House of the green light given by Washington to the Ukrainians to strike on Russian territory using weapons supplied by the USA. The shooting down of the Russian fighter was announced by Ukrainian military intelligencethe GRU: «On June 8, a Su-57 multirole fighter of the aggressor state was hit on the territory of the Akhtubinsk airport, in the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation, located 589 kilometers from the battle line», yes reads in a statement.
Gur also published satellite images showing the plane in question parked at the Russian airport. «The images show that on June 7 the Su-57 was intact and on June 8 there were signs of the explosion near it and the characteristic fire spots resulting from the damage caused by the fire», he adds. The Su-57 is the most modern Russian fighter, capable of launching Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles, it has been used by the Russian Air Force since the end of 2020, replacing the old Soviet fighter aircraft of the Su-27 or MiG-29 type. The episode provides Kiev with an additional tool, also from a political point of view, in view of the G7 next week in Puglia, for which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to renew his appeal to intensify and accelerate support in Kiev.
The White House for its part speaks of a fact of “common sense” returning to comment on the US president's decision to grant Ukrainian forces permission to use the weapons received from America to strike across the border, overcoming the previous concerns that the authorization of such attacks could drag NATO into a direct conflict with Russia. “The momentum of the operation in Kharkiv has run out,” said the American national security advisor Jake Sullivan at CBS. “Kharkiv is still under threat, but the Russians have not been able to make any concrete progress on the ground in the last few days in that area,” she explained. And on Biden's decision he observed: «From the president's point of view it was common sense. It simply didn't make sense not to allow the Ukrainians to strike across that border, which is why the president gave the green light. And the Ukrainians put it into practice on the battlefield.”