Russian Sukhoi Su-30 twin-engine, two-seat supermaneuverable fighter performs during air show at the MAKS 2021 International Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky outside Moscow, Russia, 24 July 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY

A Ukrainian maritime drone shot down at least one Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet during a drone strike on Russia’s Novorossiysk naval base late Friday night, according to Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (GUR).

GUR said the fighters were shot down by Ukraine-made Magura-7 drone boats using infrared-targeting air-to-air missiles. If the reports are accurate, it would mark the first time that a combat aircraft has ever been destroyed by a naval drone.

Describing the strike as “successful” and “historic”, GUR first wrote on Telegram on Saturday morning that “a multi-purpose fighter jet from the aggressor state of Russia, estimated to cost about $50 million, burst into flames in the air and crashed into the sea”.

Later on Saturday, The War Zone, an American defence analysis website and magazine, published a report citing GUR Director Kyrylo Budanov, in which he claimed that Ukraine-made Magura-7 seaborne drones had actually shot down two Su-30 fighters using infrared-guided air-to-air missiles.

Though the initial report of one plane being shot down was confirmed by several military analysis Telegram sources, independent channel Maps and Arrows, and Pavel Aksyonov of BBC News Russian, the second plane’s downing has not been verified by these or other sources.

The Russian Defence Ministry has not commented on the attacks. In early January, Ukrainian seaborne drones reportedly shot down two Russian Mi08 helicopters in a similar fashion.