Russian Air Force Deploys Su-34 and Su-35 Fighters For New Strikes on Ukrainian Forces in Kursk

<p >The Russian Air Force has deployed <a href=" target="_blank">Su-34 strike fighters</a> and<a href=" target="_blank"> Su-35 air superiority fighters</a> to launch renewed strikes on Ukrainian forces in the Russian Kursk region. The Russian Defence Ministry reported on January 8: "A Su-34 multirole supersonic fighter-bomber, escorted by a Su-35S fighter, took off from its base airfield and carried out a bombing strike on a stronghold and manpower of the Ukrainian armed forces.” It added that the Su-34 used universal planning and correction modules in its attack, and that both fighter classes struck their targets successfully. The Defence Ministry reported the previous day that a Su-34 “delivered a strike on a cluster of Ukrainian military manpower and armoured and motor vehicles near the border in the Kursk Region," with guided glide bombs used in the attack. The strike fighter returned to its airfield only after receiving confirmation from reconnaissance personnel that the Ukrainian targets were destroyed. The Su-34 and Su-35 both entered service in 2014, and currently form the backbone of the Russian Air Force with over 100 of each in service. Although both aircraft are derivatives of the Soviet Su-27 air superiority fighter, the Su-34 is approximately 50 percent larger, has a much longer range, and can carry much greater weapons payloads, making it particularly optimal for strike operations.</p><p ><img src=" title="Russian Air Force Su-34"></p><p >As Ukrainian forces in Kursk have been simultaneously assailed from several sides, reported losses have become increasingly extreme. The Russian Defence Ministry on October 27 estimated the loss of over “27,150 troops, 177 tanks, 97 infantry fighting vehicles, 106 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,014 armoured combat vehicles since the fighting started in the Kursk area,” which was was up from the 20,650 personnel <a href=" >estimated</a> in the first week of October to have been lost in Kursk by that point. The increasingly widespread use of glide bombs against Ukrainian forces in Kursk and other locations has been highlighted with growing concern by Western and Ukrainian sources, with multiple Ukrainian personnel in January 2024 having informed the New York Times that <a href=" >new</a> Russian strikes using these bombs imposed “additional devastating power,” and with 500kg of explosives could thus obliterate their underground bunkers. One serviceman compared the impact of Russian glide bomb strikes to “hell’s gates,” stressing that the Russian Air Force “would send them two by two by two, eight in an hour… It sounds like a jet coming down on you.” The use of thermobaric warheads has reportedly made Su-34 sorties significantly more lethal still when targeting fortified positions, with this kind of ammunition having been widely likened in Russia to flamethrowers for their special ability to clear trenches and bunkers.</p>