Russian jet bomber plunges to earth and explodes ‘after being hit by Ukrainian missile’ as Kyiv boasts it has destroyed $100million-worth of Putin’s warplanes in a day

This is the dramatic moment a Russian fighter jet crashed to the ground in a ball of fire after it was ‘hit by a Ukrainian missile.’

A passerby who captured the video, believed to have been taken in the Ukrainian village of Dyakove in the Luhansk region on February 17, showed a Russian Su-34 fighter jet plummeting to the ground in a red-hot fireball.

After the crash, a plume of smoke can be seen rising from the ground. A photo was released showing the rescue crew with the ‘rescued Su-35 pilot’, which MailOnline was unable to independently verify.

The Su-34 was one of two planes that Kiev said were shot down on Saturday. Ukraine also claimed that its forces also shot down a Su-35 air defense fighter.

Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, the commander of the air force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, mocked the Russians for downplaying their losses.

Claiming three hits, he said: “Let me remind you that the Su-35S is a single-seater aircraft, and the Su-34 is a two-seater.

The dramatic moment was captured on video and follows a claim from Kiev yesterday that two Vladimir Putin Su-34 fighter-bombers and one Su-35 fighter jet, worth a total of more than $100 million, had been shot down.

The footage shows the plane crashing to earth in flames before exploding in a large cloud of smoke

“According to the radio intercept, one pilot was found, the others were ‘wanted’.”

He published a map showing where he believed the Russians were searching for downed pilots, based on the international satellite search and rescue system Cospas-Sarsat.

Russia did not admit the three losses, but acknowledged that one Su-35 was lost and that the pilot successfully ejected before being “evacuated in a timely manner.”

And there were unconfirmed claims from pro-Putin forces that the plane was downed by his own party’s air defenses.

The Russians claimed they were not using the system and that the data was fake.

He insisted: “On the morning of February 17, 2024, units of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an easterly direction destroyed three enemy aircraft at once: two Su-34 fighter-bombers and one Su-35 fighter plane.

Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, the commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, mocked the Russians for downplaying their losses

He claimed three hits and said: ‘Let me remind you that the Su-35S is a single-seater aircraft, the Su-34 is a two-seater’

“Nothing will stop us.”

He claimed that the Russians were actively searching for the downed pilots of other fighter planes.

The Russian channel FighterBomber Telegram initially claimed that there were “no losses” and that the Ukrainians were “lying.”

Other Russian channels “confirmed that the Ukrainian army shot down at least one Russian Su-35 aircraft.”

The attacks came as Ukraine withdrew its troops in Avdiivka and surrendered territory that the Russians said would be a major boost in the war.

“The president congratulated our soldiers and fighters for such an important victory and such a success,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Ukrainian sources later claimed that the video showed a Russian Su-34 crashing near the village of Dyakove in the Luhansk region.

Some Russian channels ‘confirmed that the Ukrainian army shot down at least one Russian Su-35 aircraft’

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Based on the operational situation around Avdiivka, in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of our soldiers, I have decided to withdraw our units from the city and start defending more favorable positions .’

The commanding general on site, Oleksandr Tarnavsky, said:

“In a situation where the enemy is advancing under constant bombardment over the corpses of his own soldiers and has a ten-to-one advantage, this is the only right decision.”

Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that three aircraft were shot down during an enemy attempt to attack the positions of Ukrainian forces with guided aerial bombs.