British intelligence comments on friendly fire incidents in Russian sky

Russian air defense forces have repeatedly shot down their own warplanes over Crimea, which may point to errors by air defense operators.

That’s according to the UK Ministry of Defense citing an intelligence report, Ukrinform learned.

It is noted that after several Ukrainian strikes on targets in Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet this year, local Russian air defenses have almost certainly been put on heightened alert.

The British Ministry of Defense recalled that on March 28, 2024, a Russian Su-27 flying over Crimea was shot down by Russian air defense, and the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mykhail Razvozhaev, stated that there was a technical malfunction and that the pilot survived.

"There is a realistic possibility that rather than a technical issue, the increased pressure and tension amongst Russian air defence operators induced by the fear of further Ukrainian action leads to them inadvertently engaging their own pilots and aircraft," analysts believe .

It is noted that there have been previous unconfirmed reports of similar instances of friendly fore occurring, usually following periods of Ukrainian action against Russian forces in the illegally occupied territory of Crimea.

"This event, and others if confirmed, likely highlights the lack of situational awareness and coordination between elements of the Russian armed forces, while further demonstrating the second-order impact of Ukrainian actions," the Ministry concludes.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, late March, in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, the Russian military shot down its own plane, shortly after it took off from the Belbek airfield.

Later, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Dmytro Pletenchuk, confirmed that it was indeed a Russian plane shot down in a friendly fire incident.