Key Points
- Ukrainian sources reported that Russia delivered roughly 14 Su-34 bombers and 10 Su-35S fighters to its navy in 2025.
- Analysts mentioned Russia’s 2025 plane losses have been primarily non-combat, attributable to technical failures and pilot error.
Ukrainian sources say Russia’s protection business delivered roughly 14 Su‑34 frontline bombers and about 10 Su‑35S fighter jets to its armed forces in 2025, increasing Moscow’s tactical aviation stock because the conflict enters its fourth 12 months.
According to these assessments, the brand new plane permit Russia to extend strain on Ukraine by elevating the tempo of guided air‑to‑floor weapon use and strengthening air cowl for frontline operations. The Su‑34, manufactured by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and operated by the Russian Aerospace Forces, is a twin‑engine strike plane used to launch glide bombs and different precision munitions from standoff distances. The Su‑35S is Russia’s most fashionable serially produced air‑superiority fighter.
These additions may assist extra frequent Russian strikes launched from inside Russian airspace, the place Ukrainian forces stay restricted from using accomplice‑provided missiles. As famous in early reporting, these constraints have decreased Ukraine’s skill to focus on Russian airbases, permitting Moscow to maintain plane nearer to the entrance.
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The context supplied by Ukrainian consultants highlights a shift in Russian aviation losses throughout 2025. Earlier within the conflict, Russian fight plane have been primarily misplaced to Ukrainian air defenses or destroyed throughout assaults on Russian airfields. Open-source monitoring group Oryx beforehand reported that Ukraine had destroyed “a minimum of 41 Su‑34 and eight Su‑35S” because the full‑scale invasion started. Most of these losses occurred within the early phases of the conflict.
However, Ukrainian sources say that in 2025 Russian forces have primarily misplaced plane because of non‑fight causes, together with mechanical failures and pilot error. Analysts attribute this to 2 intersecting components: Russia’s rising reliance on lengthy‑vary guided aviation weapons—which reduces publicity to Ukrainian air defenses—and exterior restrictions on Ukraine’s use of accomplice‑provided missiles towards Russian bases. These situations, they argue, permit Russia to protect extra plane from direct Ukrainian hearth whereas revealing inner readiness issues inside Russian aviation models.
Russia’s skill to subject new Su‑34 and Su‑35S plane at this scale means that its protection business maintains capability to interchange losses, although usually with simplified or downgraded subsystems because of sanctions. Even so, further plane develop Russia’s potential strike quantity and air‑cowl functionality, significantly alongside axes the place glide bombs have performed a decisive battlefield position.
The 2025 deliveries have enabled Russia to accentuate its use of guided plane munitions towards Ukrainian troop concentrations, logistics hubs, and fortified positions. Ukrainian models alongside a number of sectors have described continued bombardment by glide bombs launched from Su‑34s past the attain of Ukrainian air‑protection programs.
