The Russian Aerospace Forces have been on June 20 reported to have deployed Su-34 lengthy vary strike fighters for assaults on Ukrainian Armed Forces drone management factors, with footage from Russia’s personal unmanned plane confirming the targets’ destruction. The Russian Defence Ministry reported: “Within the settlements of Dobropolye and Kucherov Yar of the DPR [Donetsk], pilots destroyed the management factors of UAVs of two separate brigades of the Nationwide Guard of Ukraine with FAB-500 aerial bombs. Additionally, three FAB-1500 aerial bombs outfitted with common planning and correction modules struck the momentary deployment level of the 81st separate airmobile brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine within the village of Nikolayevka, DPR.” Su-34s have been liable for the majority of strike operations, with their outstandingly excessive weapons carrying capacities, formidable digital warfare capabilities, and diminished frontal radar cross sections making them optimum for such roles. Russian forces have prioritised putting drone management factors as a result of far decrease complexity of doing so in comparison with taking pictures down giant numbers of drones.
Su-34 items have been in October 2025 reported to have begun to utilise a brand new sort of very lengthy vary glide bomb, which has been a sport changer for the flexibility of aviation property to launch low value mass strikes on targets far deeper behind Ukrainian strains. Commenting on the brand new weapon’s impression, deputy head of Ukraine’s Primary Directorate of Intelligence Vadim Skibitsky said that it had demonstrated a variety of 193 kilometres, stressing that this might essentially alter the dynamics on the frontlines. Prior glide bombs which started to be broadly utilised from 2023 had beforehand been restricted to ranges of round 80 kilometres or much less. Glide bomb improvement has been very important to lowering each the dangers of launching assaults, and the prices of doing so, offering ranges similar to many air-to-ground missile sorts at very small fractions of the associated fee.
Ukrainian Army frontline personnel talking to varied Western media retailers have broadly singled out the results of mass glide bomb assaults, stressing that such assaults utilizing bombs with as much as 500 kilograms of explosives have been obliterating their underground bunkers. One serviceman in contrast their impression to “hell’s gates,” stressing that the Russian Aerospace Forces “would ship them two by two by two, eight in an hour… It seems like a jet coming down on you.” These strikes have reportedly contributed considerably to the intense casualty charges suffered by the Ukrainain Army, which had in a number of instances approached 80-90 p.c in frontline items. In April 2023 Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Vadim Pristaiko said that authorities have been concealing the total variety of wartime casualties, stating that “it has been our coverage from the beginning to not talk about our losses,” however that “when the struggle is over, we’ll acknowledge this. I feel it is going to be a horrible quantity.” Ensuing personnel shortages have resulted in a rising reliance on overseas combatants to assist the Ukrainian struggle effort, together with contractor personnel from Brazil, Colombia and Poland.
