Vladimir Putin red-faced over embarrassing video of blunder that could cost £20million

It is believed Russian forces shot down their own jet worth $20 million when missiles were launched at Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region of the country on Saturday

A jawdropping video has been shared online that appears to show Russian forces shooting down their own aircraft in an almighty gaffe.

The friendly fire mishap appears to show Vladimir Putin's forces shooting down a $20 million SU-25 jet. Other reports suggest it could be an even pricier SU-34, which would prove to be another setback for the Russian leader. The footage, shared by Ukrainska Pravida newspaper, allegedly shows the Russian aircraft launching guided bombs at Ukrainian positions in Donetsk on Saturday, October 5, before they were shot out of the sky.

It continues to show an aircraft being hit mid-air by one of the missiles and the wreckage after the crash. Although it is unclear whether the clips are from the same incident, the Irish Star reports.

A former advisor of Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry speculated the downed aircraft was either an SU-25 ground support jet or a Hunter S-70 drone, the Express US reported. Russian forces have been slowly advancing in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, which President Vladimir Putin annexed in September 2022, but not without suffering heavy casualties.

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian military confirmed its withdrawal from Vuhledar, a city in Donetsk province with a pre-war population of around 14,000, after weeks of intense fighting.

Despite this, Putin's troops are still battling to regain control of parts of Russia's Kursk province, which were captured by Ukrainian forces during a surprise offensive in August. Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine's internal affairs minister, shared footage of a destroyed aircraft on X, remarking: "Videos appeared online showing a Russian Su-25 that crashed in Donetsk region."

"There is unconfirmed information that it could have been friendly fire by the Russians themselves." There is also information that the crashed Russian aircraft is a Russian Su-34, not a Su-25. Its cost is about $40 million.

Mr Gerashchenko later speculated that the aircraft might have been "a Russian Hunter S-70 drone that was allegedly carrying out a reconnaissance flight," citing a Russian military Telegram channel. He also stated: "There is also information that the crashed Russian aircraft is a Russian Su-34, not a Su-25. Its cost is about $40 million.

"In a separate development, the Ukrainian military on Saturday released a video that it claimed showed a Russian tank being destroyed by a drone that dropped molten thermite over it. A number of videos have surfaced showing Ukrainian "dragon drones" dropping thermite, consisting of a mixture of aluminium and rust which burns at extremely high temperatures, on Russian positions in recent weeks.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry released its latest estimates for Russian casualties over the past 24 hours. Kyiv claimed that Russian forces had suffered 1,280 casualties and lost eight tanks and 31 infantry fighting vehicles in this period, though this claim has not been independently verified.