Russia's Most Advanced SU-57 Crashes | Accident, Sabotage or Pure Propaganda? | SU 57 | Ukraine

Russia's most advanced fighter jet. The aircraft that Moscow presents as its answer to the American F-22 and F-35. But the Su-57 has crashed. Within hours, social media was flooded with claims. Ukraine shot it down. Others claimed Russia's own air defense destroyed it. And almost immediately, questions started being raised about the Su-57 itself. But how much of this is actually true? And how much is simply information warfare? Let's break it down. Hello everyone. Welcome back to TFI Global. The first thing you need to understand is where this aircraft crashed. The Su-57 went down near Moscow. That single fact rules out one major possibility. The chances that its aircraft was brought down by the Ukrainian air-to-air missile or even a Ukrainian surface-to-air missile are extremely low. The distance simply doesn't support that theory. Another claim during the rounds is that this may have been a case of friendly fire. In other words, Russia's own air defense system around Moscow accidentally shot down one of their own aircraft. Again, there are no visible signs of missile impact at the crash site. More importantly, the pilot managed to eject very close to the crash location. That usually indicates something very different. It appears the pilot was fighting to save the aircraft only when it became impossible to recover. Did he steer away from the populated areas or eject at the very last moment? From the Russian side, the explanation is straightforward. They say the aircraft suffered a technical malfunction during flight. The pilot lost control and eventually the aircraft was lost. What's also important is this. Ukraine itself has not officially claimed responsibility for bringing down the Su-57. Yet on social media, the narrative has spread rapidly. Why? Because every conflict today is fought on two battlefields. One, the physical battlefield. The other, the information battlefield. Giving Ukraine credit for shooting down Russia's most advanced fighter naturally creates headlines. At the same time, it also raises question about the credibility of the Su-57 program. That said, Russia has certainly suffered a significant loss. The Su-57 fleet remains very small. Every operational aircraft matters. Losing even one during an ongoing conflict is a setback. And regardless of the reason behind any fighter crash, whether it's combat pilot error or technical failure, questions are always asked about reliability. However, based on everything available so far, there is still no credible evidence that this aircraft was shot down, neither by Ukrainian forces nor by Russian air defense. That exact reason behind the crash will only become clear once the investigation is complete. Now let's look at the bigger picture. How has Russia's actually been using the Su-57 in this war? Unlike Western stealth fighters, Russia has mostly kept the Su-57 well behind the front lines. We have discussed this before on TFI Global. Instead of deep penetration strike missions, the aircraft has largely been operating from standoff distances. It has also reportedly been used in counter-drone operations. That naturally leads to criticism. Because traditionally, stealth fighters are designed to penetrate heavily defended enemy airspace, destroy high-value targets and return undetected. Russia has largely avoided that kind of employment. In fact, several reports suggest that Su-57s often launch their air-to-air surface cruise missile while remaining under the protection of Russia's own integrated air defense umbrella. There is still very little publicly available evidence of the Su-57 achieving operational air-to-air kills against enemy aircraft. So why is Russia being so cautious? One possible explanation. Even though the aircraft itself is operational, its full combat package may still be under development. That naturally limits the roles Russia is willing to assign to it. The Su-57 program itself has progressed much more slowly than originally planned. So it isn't surprising that Moscow is being careful with one of its most advanced and limited assets. As more aircraft enter service, and as they begin flying more front-line missions, only then we will get a clear picture of Su-57's true combat capability. For now, the available evidence points more towards the technical malfunction than a shoot-down. That's not something unheard of in military aviation. But at the same time, it is equally true that a great deal of negative propaganda is also being built around the Su-57. And in today's information war, that aspect cannot be ignored either. Thank you for watching. Do subscribe.