https://gur.gov.ua/content/vpershe-urazheno-su-57.html
Su-57 was hit for the first time
On June 8, 2024, a Su-57 multi-purpose fighter of the aggressor state was hit on the territory of the Akhtubinsk airfield in the Astrakhan region of the Russian Federation, located 589 kilometers from the line of combat.
This is evidenced by satellite images of the aircraft parking at the enemy airfield.
The pictures show that on June 7th, the Su-57 was standing intact, and on the eighth, there were ruptures from the explosion and characteristic spots of fire caused by fire damage near it.
The Su-57 is Moscow’s most modern fighter, which can be used to attack the Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles.
A few units of the specified combat aircraft are in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Su-57 damage is the first such case in history.
Glory to Ukraine!
I mean… it’s not, really. For a lot of reasons.
But none of those reasons actually matter here, because any plane is easy to destroy if you don’t properly secure your airbase, and Russia demonstrably kinda sucks at securing their airbases. They tend to rely on the fact that Russia is huge. Which doesn’t help if the people gunning for your shit are highly motivated and can blend relatively effortlessly into your own society.
Just to add to this, every plane is vulnerable while on the ground. It doesn’t really matter how stealth an aircraft is if your bombarding the hanger they’re in with artillery.
But Russia doesn’t even really bother with hangers. This plane was just out in the open, on the fucking tarmac, for God, observers, satellites, and anyone else who cared to see. Even stretching a fucking tent over the aircraft would have at least introduced a certain amount of guesswork to the strike. But no, Russia put “the pride of their airforce” out there for everyone to see and paid the price for it.
It could have been OSINT, or it could have been data from a KH-whatever-we’re-up-to-now; either way, good kill.