July 8, 2026

Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilots trapped a Russian Su-35 pilot in a trap where the enemy was attacked by missiles from the air and ground. Author: Artem Malinovsky

Ukrainian journalist Ivan Yakovyna attempted to reconstruct the chronology of the air battle between Ukrainian F-16s and Russian Su-35s, which ended with the Russian fighter being defeated.

Commenting on information from Russian sources, the journalist concluded that Ukrainian pilots had cunningly lured the Russian pilot into a trap, where he was attacked by missiles from both the air and the ground.

Yakovyna noted that the Su-35 is a newer fighter than the F-16, possessing more advanced radars and long-range missiles. The journalist speculates that, upon spotting the Ukrainian F-16s, the Su-35 pursued them, hoping to shoot them down, relying on its superior performance.

“But the Ukrainian pilots didn’t run away; they turned and fought back. In today’s world, aerial combat means launching missiles at the enemy while simultaneously evading them. Success in such combat requires a great deal of maneuvering, gaining and losing altitude, attempting to outflank the enemy, and so on. But, as we see from Russian explanations, at some point, the Ukrainians apparently tricked the enemy Su-35 into the range of a Patriot ground-based air defense system, and missiles were fired at the Su-35 from the ground,” the journalist stated.

Thus, the Russian pilot had to simultaneously dodge missiles from two F-16s and a Patriot air defense system, an extremely difficult task. Ultimately, one of the missiles hit the enemy fighter.

At the same time, Yakovina believes that the Su-35 was hit by an AMRAAM missile fired by one of the F-16s, and not a Patriot missile.

“Judging by the fact that the Russian pilot survived—at least that’s what the Russians say—it’s likely that the plane was hit. I can’t guarantee it 100 percent, but it was most likely not a Patriot missile that hit it. I’ll explain why. This missile is very large, creating a gigantic explosion with a cloud of metal balls that turns both the plane and its pilot into a sieve. Surviving such an explosion is simply impossible,” the journalist explained.

https://www.dialog.ua/war/podrobnosti-boya-f-i-su-khitryy-manevr-letchikov-vsu-ne.html