Russia 'shoots down own Su-30SM fighter jet' during Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea, Sochi
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia shot down its own Su-30SM fighter jet over Crimea while its air defense was trying to intercept Ukrainian drones flying to the occupied peninsula and deep inside Russia overnight, Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, said on Oct. 17.
Pletenchuk said that the intercepted radio communications reveal that the pilot flying the fighter jet in the northwestern part of Crimea was killed after two engines caused fire.
"The enemy likely shot down its own multirole fighter while repelling a (Ukrainian) drone attack using air defense systems," Pletenchuk told the Kyiv Independent.
The Ukrainian drone attack appears to have hit a facility near the Gvardeyskoye airbase in Crimea, and the footages appear to show the oil depot nearby on fire, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported.
Ukraine's Special Forces later confirmed that its drones inflicted damage on Gvardeyskoye's oil depot and a plant, attaching a video supposedly showing the attack from a drone view.
The Russian occupational administration in Sevastopol has stayed silent on the possible consequences of the Ukrainian attack.
In Russia, cities including Sochi, about 400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, were under attack.
"An air defense system is active in Sochi. An attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is being repelled," Sochi Mayor Andrei Proshunin said.
The mayor later claimed that a missile attack was being repelled by air defense systems in the city. Russian media reported that over 10 airports had temporarily suspended operations.
At around 7:30 a.m. local time, all drone and missile threats were cleared, Proshunin said afterwards.
Ukraine's army regularly strikes military infrastructure within occupied territories and deep within Russia in an attempt to diminish Moscow's fighting power as it continues to wage its war against Ukraine.
In Donetsk, a Russian ammunition depot was hit in a drone attack, with fires and explosions reported in the occupied city.
Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the attacks, and the Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims.
Sochi sits on Russia's Black Sea coast and is located about 310 kilometers (193 miles) from Ukraine and approximately 538 kilometers (334 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled territory near Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Overnight on Oct. 16, Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Russia's Saratov Oblast, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) confirmed.
Meanwhile, an electrical substation in Russia's Volgograd Oblast was in flames following a reported Ukrainian drone strike the same night, regional Governor Andrey Bocharov said the morning of Oct. 16.
