"The Su-35 Was Ambushed"

• 9.07.2026, 13:32

An expert explained how the Ukrainian Armed Forces might have shot down a Russian fighter jet.

A Russian Su-35 fighter jet was ambushed and shot down. This was reported on the air by Radio NV Alexey Getman, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war and a retired major, stated this.

He did not rule out the possibility that a Patriot air defense missile system was used to shoot down this fighter jet.

“This isn’t the first time; it’s happened before. We shot down A-50 long-range radar reconnaissance aircraft using precisely such air defense systems from ambush,” Getman noted.

According to him, the Patriot’s target engagement range exceeds 100 km, while other air defense systems have a shorter range, so they would have had to be moved closer to the aircraft’s flight path.

He explained that an ambush is organized so that the air defense system and its launcher can be camouflaged and powered down, meaning they do not emit electromagnetic waves—making them extremely difficult to detect.

“And when it’s turned on, its location is immediately detected—but by then it may already be too late. After all, it takes only seconds to ‘lock onto’ an aircraft, track it, and issue the command to launch a missile. The system activates in about 10 seconds. And when several missiles are fired at the aircraft, it’s virtually impossible to evade them,” said Getman.

At the same time, he emphasized that the Su-35 is a “serious aircraft” and a good target.

“Judging by what we know about the transfer of certain weapons to us—in particular, air-to-air missiles with a range of up to 200 km—we will soon see more Russian aircraft shot down,” said Getman.

According to him, it is precisely these aircraft that are dropping guided bombs along the line of combat and on border or frontline settlements in Ukraine.