Russian air defenses may have downed their own Su-57 jet
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The Russian Ministry of Defense's official version: a technical malfunction (Photo: sukhoi.org)
Russian Telegram channels have floated the possibility that a military aircraft that crashed in Moscow Oblast may have been shot down by Russia's own air defense forces, despite the Russian Defense Ministry's official account attributing the crash to a technical malfunction, the news outlet Agentstvo reported on July 23.
One Russian military blogger suggested questions should be directed at the Bars-Moscow air defense unit, whose creation the Russian authorities announced in mid-June.
According to the Defense Ministry's official version, the preliminary cause of the crash was a technical malfunction in the aircraft. The ministry did not name the aircraft model, but the Kremlin-controlled outlet Kommersant, citing a source, reported it was a Su-57 — Russia's fifth-generation fighter jet, which Putin called "the best in the world" in June.
Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under a statute covering violations of flight rules or flight preparation procedures.
Russian military analyst Kirill Mikhailov said some observers are leaning toward the "friendly fire" theory in this case.
The international intelligence community InformNapalm reported that the Su-57's destruction was one result of a HUMINT and CYBINT operation by Ukrainian intelligence services. According to the group, a combined cognitive and cyber influence operation affected the operation of the Bars-Moscow air defense unit, turning that air defense system into a tool that struck Russia's own aircraft.
InformNapalm reported on July 17 that it had been analyzing a batch of intercepted Russian materials, including footage from a training range where Bars-Moscow crews were being prepared to counter Ukrainian long-range drones. Based on that analysis, the group said it prepared an intelligence brief for relevant units of Ukraine's Defense Forces, containing systematized data on personnel training, the unit's software and hardware systems, combat algorithms and system vulnerabilities — information that was then used to influence the work of one crew and turn the Russian-built system against a Russian target, the group said.
InformNapalm noted the "technical malfunction" explanation for Su-57 incidents is not new to the group: in 2025, as part of a cyber operation called OKBMLeaks, InformNapalm published leaked internal documents from a Russian manufacturer of components for the aircraft's systems.
According to Ukrainian intelligence, these multirole jets — capable of carrying Kh-59 and Kh-69 missiles — are rare, with only a handful in service with Russia's Aerospace Forces. Ukraine's Defense Forces struck a Su-57 for the first time in June 2024, at the Akhtubinsk airfield in Russia's Astrakhan Oblast.
Su-57 jets have also repeatedly sustained damage on the ground; in May 2026, Ukraine's General Staff said Ukrainian drones struck two additional Su-57s at the Shagol airfield in Russia's Chelyabinsk Oblast.
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