Aviation expert Kryvolap on Russian Su-25 downing in Donetsk region

He spoke about this on Espreso TV.

“The Su-25 attack aircraft flies at low altitudes. When this aircraft approaches the line of combat contact, the “gray” zone, it tries to get low to the ground so that no radar equipment can detect it and, accordingly, not shoot it down. And the Su-25 shot down over Donetsk region must have gotten carried away with its experiments with flying in the “gray” zone. In addition, when we did not have the means to fire short- and medium-range systems, the attack aircraft got used to flying brazenly, and then did not realize the moment when we got something and managed to shoot it down,” commented Kryvolap.

According to him, the Su-25 is a very old aircraft, the development of which began in the 1970s, and it was put into service in 1981. This aircraft proved itself very well in Afghanistan, which is why it was nicknamed the “rook” because it can carry 1-4 tons of combat payload.

"The Su-25 was produced in over a thousand units. In recent years, there have been reports that Russia has 193 aircraft, but this is a bit of an exaggeration. Overall, when Russia underwent transformation and reorganization of its air forces, it was left with 10 squadrons, and by Soviet standards, a squadron had 12 aircraft, maximum 18. The number of such aircraft at the beginning of the hot phase could have been around 180, but considering training and others, the actual number would be around 130 aircraft capable of being operational. Since February 24, 2022, somewhere around 35-40 of such aircraft have been destroyed. Consequently, there are no more than 100 of them left, but still, there are many," noted an aviation expert.

Kryvolap added that the Russians reported last year on the need to modernize the Su-25SM3 attack aircraft. Among the downed Su-25s, there were few machines with the SM3 modification, maybe 1 or 2 machines, because they are sufficiently protected against counteraction. Therefore, it is interesting to wait for information on which specific Su-25 attack aircraft was shot down on May 4 over Donetsk.

• On May 4, soldiers of the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed a Russian Su-25 in Donetsk region.