Russian Air Defenses Still Likely to Shoot Down Own Aircraft Over Crimea

Russia's air defense still has a problem of shooting down its own air forces over Crimea because of continuing problems with its “friend or foe” target detection and recognition systems.

According to the Atesh partisan movement, in the face of constant missile and UAV attacks, air defense commanders in occupied areas of Ukraine including Crimea, are forced to identify and engage targets manually. This often results in striking on their own friendly air targets.

The guerrillas learned that in the last two weeks alone, the 12th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment of the 31st Air Defense Division of the Russian Federation had shot down two Russian military aircraft.

On March 28, the division's Pantsir medium-range air defense system, deployed in the area of Inkerman Bay in Sevastopol, shot down one of its own Su-27 fighter aircraft.

Then, on April 10, an Mi-24 attack helicopter was shot down on the western coast of Crimea by another Pantsir air defense system, which was deployed near the Saki air base, according to the Atesh movement guerrillas.

The military personnel responsible for such events continue to serve and are not being punished. At the same time, the underground asks the question:

“Is it possible that the air defense system of the Russian Armed Forces shoots down Russian aircraft deliberately, taking advantage of their impunity?

“Could they be doing it to fight racism or to get a good bonus?”

How many Russian planes have been shot down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces recently?

In February, the Ukrainian Air Force set a new monthly record shooting down13 enemy aircraft.

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On the night of April 5, powerful explosions were heard in three military airfields from which attacks are regularly launched against Ukraine.

Kyiv Post sources reported that the attack on the Morozovsk airfield was carried out by the SBU in a combined operation with the Defense Forces, that destroyed at least six aircraft and damaged a further eight.

On the same night, according to Kyiv Post’s intelligence sources, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (НUR), struck three Russian airfields.

According to the source, at least three Tu-95MS strategic bombers were damaged in the attack by unmanned aerial vehicles at the Engels-2 airfield. Seven Russian soldiers were also killed in the operation, including, presumably, bomber pilots.