British military intelligence officials on Friday said it was “very likely” that Ukraine shot down a Russian fighter-bomber with a surface-to-air missile this week over the northwestern Black Sea in the vicinity of Ukraine’s Snake Island.
Russia has continued to conduct high-risk strike missions against Snake Island since the summer of 2023. While it has an area of less than half a mile, the rocky outcrop is strategically placed at the southern boundary of Ukraine’s territorial waters in the Black Sea.
The island was captured by Russian military forces on the first day of the invasion in February 2022. Moscow controlled Snake Island until late June when it retreated in what was considered a major coup for Ukraine.
Russia still flies missions against Snake Island using aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-24 that was shot down on Tuesday, U.K. officials said.
“The island has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and Russia wants to demonstrate it can project force across the Black Sea,” British officials said on X in their latest assessment of the battlefield in Ukraine.
The two-man crew of the Su-24, designated as “Fencer” by NATO, was likely lost, British officials said. The location and conditions in the area would make a successful search and rescue operation by Russia “extremely challenging.”
“Both sides still suffer regular combat aircraft losses,” U.K. military officials said. “Overall, air defenses continue to limit the effectiveness of tactical air operations.”
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