A message posted on the British Ministry of Defense’s X-account suggests that the Russian plane was shot down in the sky over the sea by a surface-to-air missile. The report emphasizes that high-risk strike missions in the Zmiine area have been carried out by Russian tactical aviation since the summer of this year.

During one of these missions, a Su-24M bomber was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile. Two Russian pilots who were in it were killed. According to the Ukrainian media, the enemy aircraft was destroyed by a Patriot SAM received from Germany. After the bomber incident, Russian tactical aircraft stopped approaching the island.