Russia acknowledges that Ukrainian drones shot two of the state-of-the-art Su-57 fighter jets at the Akhtubinsk air base in the Astrakhan Oblast.

Russian propagandist Ilya Tumanov, who runs the aviation-themed Telegram channel Fighterbomber, confirmed this.

The strike on the Russian military air base was carried out on June 8 using a UAV.

The next day, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine showed a photo of one damaged Su-57. However, intelligence later reported that at least two of the invaders’ newest fighters were hit.

On the evening of June 10, a Russian propagandist wrote in a Telegram that two Su-57s had been damaged. According to him, one fighter was heavily damaged, and they are now considering whether it is advisable to restore it. The Russian propagandist claimed that it was allegedly a prototype that could not engage in combat operations. However, it is impossible to verify this, and Russian statements cannot be trusted either.

The second Su-57 allegedly suffered minor damage and is to be repaired on-site.

They claim that the Akhtubinsk air base in the Astrakhan Oblast was attacked by three Ukrainian drones, none of which were shot down by Russian air defense. The Russian propagandist complains about ineffective air defense and claims that only military personnel using small arms tried to shoot down the UAVs.

The US publication The War Zone published Maxar satellite images before and after the strike on the Akhtubinsk military air base.

The second image shows a damaged Russian Su-57 fighter jet. There are burn marks on the concrete near the plane and a small crater to the left of the cockpit.

The publication noticed another burnt mark near the plane’s tail, which resembles a small crater from an explosion.

The explosions of the warheads of several drones so close to the Su-57 most likely caused damage to the fighter jets by shrapnel or fragments, as well as by a blast wave.

With regard to the Russian propaganda claims that the allegedly damaged Su-57 was only a prototype, after viewing the new satellite images, MilitaryAviationInUa suggested that the Russian aircraft could have been carrying missile weapons under the wings. However, the quality of the image does not allow to confirm or deny this.