DEATH SPIRAL
Dramatic moment ‘Russian’ jet spirals to the ground in a flat spin and explodes after ‘being hit by Ukrainian missile’
INCREDIBLE footage captures the moment a Russian fighter jet appears to spin towards the ground in a death spiral after being struck by a Ukrainian missile.
The aircraft, believed to be a Sukhoi Su-34 supersonic bomber, was shot down in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, where much of Russia's army is now concentrated in the latest stage of the conflict.
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Remarkable footage shows the plane spinning in circles as it drops out of the sky.
It was reportedly shot down near the town of Balakliia, 46 miles southeast of Kharkiv, which is currently under Russian control.
Air Command East, a branch of the Ukrainian Air Force, is believed to have shot down the jet.
It isn't known if the pilots were able to eject safely.
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The video was shared by Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communications (Stratcom), based in Kyiv, earlier on Monday.
"Ukrainian defenders shot down an enemy plane in the Kharkiv region," Stratcom said in a statement.
"According to preliminary data, it was an all-weather two-seater fighter-bomber Su-34, according to the Air Command East."
The Air Command East appeared to confirm the strike on its official channels.
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Sukhoi Su-34s are a Soviet-origin Russian twin-engine, twin-seat, all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber and strike aircraft.
It first flew in 1990, entering service with the Russian Air Force in 2014.
Currently, only the Russian Air Force operates Su-34s, although the Algerian Air Force is reported to have 14 aircraft - in its export version - on order.
Earlier this month, a similar Russian fighter jet, the Su-35S Flanker-E, was downed in a field in the Kharkiv region, near the city of Izyum.
A video showed the newest £38m Russian aircraft burning in a field with its pilot kneeling beside it after the plane was blasted out of the sky.
While last month, a dramatic video captured the moment a Russian plane was shot down over Ukraine before the terrified pilots were interrogated on camera.
The pilots claimed they were just "following orders" as they were detained by soldiers and civilians after ejecting from their planes.
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This follows reports that Russia's best fighter jet, the Su-35, could be wiped out in Ukraine.
It comes as the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) claimed that Russia's death toll since the start of the invasion on February 24 had now reached almost 22,000 troops.
As of Monday, Russia is believed to have lost around 21,900 military personnel, 884 tanks, 2,258 armoured fighting vehicles, 181 warplanes, and 154 helicopters.
Russia's invasion, which the Kremlin continues to call a "special military operation" to demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine is now into its 61st day.
It is now exactly a month since Moscow appeared to scale back its war goals, repositioning its troops to focus on "liberating" Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.
Despite that, five railway stations in central and western Ukraine are said to have come under attack, with reports of casualties.
A small group of Ukrainian soldiers and an unknown number of civilians are still barricaded within the Azovstal steel plant, as part of a desperate final bid to defend the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol.
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Moscow has announced it will suspend attacks on the plant allowing civilians to leave.
However, Ukraine has demanded Russia provide written security guarantees to Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General.
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