The Russian Su-35S could have shot down the Ukrainian fighter from nearly 200 km away

The Ukrainian Air Force Command announced on June 27 that a MiG-29 fighter crashed while performing a combat mission in Poltava province, central country. The cause of the incident was not disclosed, but the agency confirmed that the pilot safely ejected the emergency chair and was rescued.

Military site Defence Security Asia On June 28, citing social media channels linked to the Russian military, as well as open source intelligence data analysts, said that the Ukrainian MiG-29 was shot down by an R-37M long-range air-to-air missile launched from a Russian Su-35S fighter in the sky over Belgorod province.

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“It seems that this is the R-37M missile that shot down the Ukrainian MiG-29 near the town of Velyka Bahachka in Poltava province. The interception took place at a distance of 190 km,” this account commented later.

If confirmed, this will be one of the times a Russian fighter shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet at the farthest distance in combat.

The R-37M long-range air-to-air missile, also known as RVV-BD, was developed by the Vympel Design Institute and has been in service with the Russian Air Force since 2014. Each projectile is more than 4 m long, has a body diameter of nearly 0.4 m, and weighs 510 kg. The RVV-BD missile is said to have a range of up to 300 km and once hit the target at a distance of 304 km in testing.

Missiles equipped with active and semi-active radar detectors apply the “fire and forget” principle, and can automatically find the target after being fired without the need for pilot adjustment. The Russian Air Force currently equips R-37M for Su-35S, Su-30SM and MiG-31 fighters participating in special operations.

Colonel Cassad, the account of a Russian military blogger, also stated a number of possibilities that led to the crash of the MiG-29 fighter, such as the plane having technical problems, being shot down by an anti-aircraft missile or colliding with a suicide drone (UAV) during an interception attempt.

The Russian Ministry of Defense and the Ukrainian army have not commented on the information.

The incident in Poltava province was not the only loss for the Ukrainian MiG-29 squadron on June 27.

On the same day, Russian officials released a video of the Geran-4 suicide UAV attacking Voznesensk military airport in Mykolaiv province. “The raid destroyed two MiG-29 fighters with air-to-air weapons, an oil tanker, and an APA-5D electric tanker. The pilots and technicians in charge of preparing the flight were also killed,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

Ukraine inherited 240 MiG-29 fighters from the Soviet Union, and has received a series of aircraft from NATO countries since the conflict broke out. This squadron is often deployed to deal with Russian UAVs and cruise missiles, and some aircraft are also modified to launch missiles and glide bombs provided by Western aid.

Oryx, an open intelligence tracking site based in the Netherlands, estimates that at least 36 Ukrainian MiG-29s have been destroyed since the beginning of the conflict. The actual number may be higher, as Oryx only lists losses with verified images. By 2025, the Ukrainian Air Force is said to have 53 MiG-29 aircraft in service.