Ukraine shoots down Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber in pre-dawn raid on Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukraine’s Air Force reports it shot down a Russian Su-34 around 4 a.m. local time while the jet was dropping guided bombs over Zaporizhzhia on 25 September 2025. If confirmed, the loss pressures Russia’s glide-bomb campaign and underscores Ukraine’s evolving air-defense reach in the south.

The Ukrainian Air Force published on its official Telegram channel, on September 25, 2025, that Ukrainian air defenders shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber over the Zaporizhzhia sector during a pre-dawn strike run. The service reported that the aircraft had been attacking the city with guided bombs at roughly 04:00 local time before being engaged and destroyed. Kyiv did not specify the weapon system or unit responsible. That omission is typical in the first hours after a shootdown, yet the time, place, and method fit the now familiar pattern of Russian glide bomb raids along the southern axis.
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Ukrainian air defenses shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber during a pre-dawn glide bomb strike on Zaporizhzhia, underscoring Kyiv’s ability to contest Russia’s frontline strike aviation (Picture source: TASS).

The Air Force’s statement was blunt and, for a battlefield message, unusually specific about the timing. The Su-34 was targeted while delivering guided aerial bombs, likely from outside the immediate front line, using the standoff release tactics Russian crews have leaned on for months. The release line is usually set far enough back to keep aircraft out of the worst of Ukraine’s medium and long-range surface-to-air zones. When that line shifts forward to improve effects on the target, risk rises.

The Su-34, known to NATO as Fullback, is Russia’s primary tactical strike jet for medium-range precision and near-precision attacks. It is a twin-engine, two-seat aircraft with side-by-side crew seating that simplifies workload during complex bombing profiles. The jet can carry more than eight tons of ordnance on twelve external hardpoints and is powered by AL-31 series turbofans, which provide it with solid dash performance and useful endurance. Its avionics suite combines a multimodal radar for air-to-ground mapping with navigation systems that support low-visibility operations. Survivability is helped by the Khibiny electronic warfare suite, radar warning receivers, and chaff and flare dispensers, though the airframe’s protection ultimately depends on tactics and distance from the threat.

In Ukraine, Su-34 crews have heavily used FAB series unguided bombs fitted with UMPK glide kits, which bolt on wings and guidance to turn simple iron bombs into standoff munitions. Typical loads range from 250 to 500 kilogram classes, with occasional heavier packages when targets require more blast. The Su-34 also carries KAB-500S satellite-guided bombs for better accuracy, Kh-31 anti-radiation missiles for suppressing radars, Kh-59 standoff missiles for longer reach, and legacy Kh-29 missiles against hardened structures. For self-defense, crews often load R-73 short-range and sometimes R-77 medium-range air-to-air missiles, but these are last resort items. The mission is strike, not air superiority.

The cockpit arrangement matters in practice: side-by-side seating allows the pilot and weapons systems officer to share displays and coordinate rapidly during time-critical runs. Terrain following at medium altitude, pop up to a safe release, then a turn away and descent to reduce exposure is the standard choreography. The price is predictability: once defenders learn the cadence and the probable release baskets, they can set up ambush geometry with radar coverage and ready launchers looking precisely at those volumes of air.

Ukrainian air defense in the south remains agile enough to contest standoff bombing, either with a forward-positioned long-range battery such as Patriot or SAMP/T, a medium-range system like IRIS-T SLM or NASAMS, or an opportunistic shot from legacy Buk and S-300 units. Moreover, Russian aviation continues to accept growing risks to maintain pressure on cities and front-line logistics nodes. When crews push the release line closer to improve accuracy, they step into engagement envelopes that are shifting hour by hour. If the kill occurred during or immediately after a bomb drop window, as the timing suggests, it points to a well-cued engagement where Ukrainian sensors had the track early and shooters were already aligned.

For Ukraine, removing a Su-34 is more than a headline. It cuts into a finite fleet of strike aircraft and takes two trained aviators out of the rotation. It also forces tactical recalibration on the Russian side. Commanders tend to pull back release lines after losses, which lengthens the time of fall for glide bombs and widens aim error. The result is more area effects and less ability to hit specific installations. Even a temporary pullback matters for a city living under a routine glide bomb threat.

UMPK-equipped bombs give Russia a low-cost way to strike from 40 to 70 kilometers, depending on release altitude and speed. They are not precise in the Western sense. Crews compensate with volume, salvoing multiple bombs to cover the target area and hedge against navigation errors or jamming. Ukrainian defenses counter with layered sensors, including passive detection, dispersed radars, and persistent unmanned aerial surveillance to cue shooters. Long-range systems create a no-go zone that moves, sometimes subtly, to surprise returning strike packages. Medium-range batteries fill gaps and exploit moments when the enemy pops to altitude for a clean release.

Russia’s reliance on glide bombs reflects both industrial realities and operational preferences. They are cheaper than cruise missiles and can be produced at scale. Ukraine’s answer depends on sustained Western resupply of interceptors, modern radars, and eventually a larger fleet of Western fighters to push Russian jets farther back. Each successful intercept strengthens Kyiv’s case in Washington and European capitals that investment in air defense yields measurable changes in Russian behavior. It also feeds the sanctions conversation, since components for guidance kits and aircraft maintenance continue to leak through gray channels. On a day when a frontline city is attacked and one of the attackers does not return, political arguments for tighter enforcement and additional air defense rounds get a little easier. As of publication, Ukrainian officials have not released wreckage photos or pilot status, and Russian authorities have not acknowledged a loss.