Two Russian Su-35S fighter jets collided in mid-air over the Kursk region, resulting in the destruction of both aircraft and the death of one pilot, according to military aviation reports. The incident occurred as Russian forces utilized the multirole aircraft for combat operations and border air defense.
Fighterbomber Published the Collision in the Kursk Region
A flight over Russia’s Kursk region ended in disaster when two advanced Su-35S multirole fighter jets collided in mid-air on Monday, September 7. The incident, which was first published by the prominent Russian military aviation source Fighterbomber, which has close ties to the Russian Aerospace Forces, resulted in the destruction of both aircraft and claimed the life of at least one pilot. The collision marks an operational loss for the Russian Aerospace Forces, coming as the border region that has seen intense aerial activity since last year continues to see heavy military operations.
Casualties and Pilot Fates Amid Conflicting Reports
While initial reports circulated on Russian military Telegram channels, details regarding the fate of the flight crews emerged incrementally through regional channels and military bloggers. The information was first published by Fighterbomber, while the incident was also confirmed by war correspondent
Yuri Kotenok, who added that the details of what happened remain unknown. The channel Voevoda Veshchaet,
run by Russian Aerospace Forces officer Alexei Zemtsov, reported that one of the pilots died in the crash, while the second pilot managed to survive and was successfully evacuated, with some accounts noting the pilot sustained serious injuries. Local reporting from the Kursk region outlet “Pepel. Kurskalso wrote about the death of one pilot, noting that the second managed to catapult but received injuries. At the same time,
Voevoda Veshchaet” indirectly placed responsibility on Ukraine, writing that the Ukrainians will pay for this, though the channel provided no evidence of Ukraine’s involvement in the incident.
Russian Ministry of Defence Released No Comments
Official silence from state authorities has left central questions unanswered. The Russian Ministry of Defence on the moment of publication did not comment on the incident, and official confirmation from the Russian Ministry of Defence is lacking, leaving the exact mission parameters, whether the incident occurred during combat operations or a training flight, and immediate causes under investigation. The Ukrainian side did not officially declare its involvement in the collision. Monitoring channel Exilenova+, referencing Russian social networks, noted that the cause of the collision is still being investigated and remains unclear, a detail also covered by the Ukrainian radio site NV, which noted that the channel is supposedly run by Russian Air Force Captain Ilya Tumanov.
The Su-35S in Russian Air Operations
The Su-35S represents a cornerstone of modern Russian tactical aviation. Derived from the Soviet-era Su-27, the aircraft was developed as a generation 4+ upgrade to perform both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions, standing as one of the most powerful machines in Russian aviation after the Su-57. The highly maneuverable fighter is equipped with two thrust-vectoring engines, the Irbis radar, and can carry R-37M air-to-air missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers. The Russian Armed Forces use the Su-35S alongside Su-30 and Su-34 strike groups to provide cover, support ground forces, intercept Ukrainian UAVs and missiles, and counter the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ air defense systems. Earlier, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense released information about Russian defense industry enterprises involved in the production of these aircraft, and the Russian Aerospace Forces received their most recent delivery batch of Su-35S jets on August 27.
Gen Dan Caine Addressed the Senate Hearing
Previous aerial engagements in July saw the Ukrainian Air Forces report that they shot down a Su-35 in the eastern direction, an event recognized by Russian Z-channels including Fighterbomber and Voevoda Veshchaet
—with the latter calling the event an “ambush” and claiming that a Patriot system illuminated the target from the ground, though the pilot survived at that time. Additionally, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Dan Caine stated during a Senate hearing on July 21, 2026, that a Ukrainian F-16 scored its first air-to-air victory by shooting down a Russian fighter jet, though Caine did not identify the Russian aircraft or disclose when, where, or under what circumstances the engagement occurred, while Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi assessed that the aircraft was likely the Russian Su-35 lost on July 8, 2026.
Wider Attrition and Regional Aerial Pressures
The Kursk collision unfolds against a backdrop of continuous aerial friction. Specialized open-source tracking resources such as Oryx, which tracks confirmed losses of military equipment, report that since the beginning of the war Russia has lost eight Su-35S fighter jets and 15 Su-24 aircraft. The air branch also recently absorbed losses involving tactical bombers, including a Su-24 that, according to the Unian agency, was struck by a drone of Ukrainian special forces at a military airfield in Crimea on Monday night.
As military bloggers and regional monitors continue to assess the developments, the absence of an official inquiry release from defense officials leaves the technical causes of the Kursk mid-air collision entirely unresolved.
