Key Points
- Russian military channel Fighterbomber reported that two Su-35S fighter jets collided in Russia’s Kursk region, killing one pilot and seriously injuring another.
- The report claims 10 confirmed Su-35S losses since Russia’s invasion began, attributed to Ukrainian air defenses, strike drones, and aviation incidents, a figure that could not be independently verified.
Two Russian Su-35S fighter jets collided in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Fighterbomber, a Telegram channel with reported ties to the Russian Aerospace Forces. Follow-up reports indicate one pilot was killed in the collision and another was seriously injured, though the full circumstances of the incident are still being determined.
Neither Russia’s Defense Ministry nor Ukrainian officials had confirmed these details independently at the time of this report. Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, has been the site of repeated Russian aircraft losses since Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border incursion there in August 2024, and it remains an active zone for Russian aviation operations.
The Su-35S is a twin-engine, highly maneuverable fourth-generation-plus fighter that Russia has used extensively during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, both for air superiority missions and to escort strike aircraft.
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The total number of confirmed Su-35S losses since the war began is 10 aircraft, attributing the losses to a mix of Ukrainian air defense systems, strike drones, and various aviation incidents.
Russian military channels and independent Russian outlets have documented several Su-35S losses over the course of the war that were not caused by Ukrainian action at all. Independent Russian investigative outlet The Insider has reported at least two cases in which Russia’s own air defense systems shot down Su-35S jets by mistake, once near Mariupol and separately near Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia region, incidents Fighterbomber itself has publicly acknowledged and, in one case, used to warn Russian pilots that their own air defenses posed a greater danger than Ukraine’s. Ukraine’s air force has also claimed several confirmed shootdowns of Su-35S aircraft through more conventional means, including one in Kherson region in May 2023 and another along the Kursk front in June 2025.
That June 2025 engagement, first reported by German outlet Bild, involved a Ukrainian-operated F-16 that shot down a Su-35 near the town of Korenevo in Kursk Oblast, marking the first known aerial kill by an F-16 under Ukrainian command. According to Bild’s reporting, Ukraine’s air force used a Swedish ASC 890 airborne early warning aircraft to detect the Russian jet at a range of 200 to 300 kilometers and relay its position to the F-16 pilot in real time, who then fired an AIM-120 missile that forced the Su-35 pilot to eject.
The Su-35S has drawn scrutiny throughout the war both for its combat losses and for a series of incidents unrelated to enemy fire, including at least one crash attributed to engine failure. Russia has continued flying the aircraft on the front lines despite the losses, reflecting its role as one of the Russian air force’s primary fighters alongside the older Su-30SM and the Su-57 stealth fighter.
The condition of the injured pilot and further details on the collision, including whether either aircraft was destroyed on impact or during an attempted landing, have not been independently confirmed.
