Russia’s newest combat aircraft has been used repeatedly during the conflict in Ukraine, a deputy prime minister said
An Su-57 jet fighter at an air show near Moscow, 2021. © Yevgeny Odinokov / Sputnik
The Russian Su-57 fifth-generation stealth air superiority jet fighters have been used in combat missions in Ukraine, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov has confirmed.
The jets have been “repeatedly” used in Ukraine, both individually and as part of squads, Borisov told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Saturday. He added that the plane’s weapons were “very effective.”
The first Su-57s joined the Air Force in 2020 and flew bombing missions in Syria. Russian media first reported the use of the Su-57s in Ukraine in May.
In June, the news agency RIA Novosti quoted a source as saying that four planes had been deployed to spot and destroy air defenses. The source said that stealth technology helped the jets avoid radars.
Borisov said that Russia has also used a laser weapon in Ukraine, which is capable of destroying drones.
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The West, meanwhile, continues to send heavy weapons to Ukraine, including HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and M777 howitzers.
Russia attacked Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
