The Defense Forces may have shot down the Russian jet-powered UAV S-70 “Okhotnik.” Footage of destroyed enemy equipment in the Donetsk region has surfaced online. Ukrainian volunteer Serhiy Sternenko shared images of the wreckage of this heavy drone. It was shot down near the city of Kostiantynivka. Before the crash, “air-to-air” missiles were seen in the sky.
The version that a heavy Russian drone, valued at around 1.6 billion rubles (over $15 million), was shot down was suggested by Russian military analysts. Earlier, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, had also reported the destruction of an aerial object, although he mentioned a plane. “A Russian Su-34 was destroyed by our warriors,” Kovalenko wrote. One of the first to publish images of the enemy aircraft burning after the crash was a Ukrainian Armed Forces lieutenant with the call sign “Alex.” At that time, the downed “bird” was identified as a Su-25.
According to Serhiy Horbunov, head of the Kostiantynivka Civil-Military Administration, in a comment to “Hromadske Donbas,” the wreckage of the downed target fell on the outskirts and in the residential area of the city. Another version suggests that the aircraft or drone may have been shot down by the occupiers themselves. “This morning, near Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, an enemy Su-25 attack aircraft crashed. Preliminary reports suggest that the *Russians experienced a friendly fire incident,” stated the Telegram channel “Tretya Syla.”
Russian propagandists are attempting to refute this, claiming that it was allegedly a Ukrainian attack aircraft that was shot down. However, in one of the videos circulating online, a red star can be seen, which is definitely not found on aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force but is a symbol that “adorns” Russian military aviation. The same red star is clearly visible in the photos, reportedly showing the wreckage of the downed target.
According to open sources, the UAV “Okhotnik” has a wingspan of 19 meters and a fuselage length of 14 meters. The mass of this combat drone reaches 25 tons, and it is powered by a turbojet engine. Its development took quite a long time—since 2009—and over the years, only a few units have been produced (according to Wikipedia, 3 have been made and 3 more are under construction).
