Ukrainian forces down Russian Su‑34 amidst Kursk skirmishes

Ukraine has been conducting operations in the Russian Kursk Oblast since 6 August. Dozens of villages have been seized, and fighting is ongoing in areas such as Sudzha. Russia had to evacuate over 120,000 residents. Ukraine has not publicly disclosed the objective of the operation, which surprised Russia after months of gradual advances by the Russian army in eastern Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that Ukrainian forces had managed to destroy another Russian Su-34 aircraft during a combat mission. The successful action took place overnight over Kursk Oblast in Russia.

"Ukrainian defence forces destroyed an enemy Su-34 aircraft. The skies over Kursk Oblast have become clearer," wrote the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence on platform X.

According to retired Col. Piotr Lewandowski of the Territorial Defence Forces Training Centre, after Ukraine initiates operations in Kursk Oblast, two Russian responses should be expected.

- One is the expulsion of Ukrainian forces from the area they have occupied after entering the territory of the Russian Federation. The second is a probable, massive airstrike on targets in Ukraine. These could be major cities: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odessa, Sumy. The Kremlin will likely claim that since Kyiv committed an act of terror, Russia may respond with a bombing attack, he said in an interview with WP.

As he recalls, Russia will argue that this is an anti-terrorist operation and that the terrorists are Ukrainians. - In the Russian doctrine, any attack on their territory is to be met with a response using nuclear weapons. But Putin will not respond that way. He will not say that Kyiv is conducting a full-scale war because he would be criticised for not using nuclear weapons. So he will manoeuvre, the former military official said.