Russian propagandists haven’t tried to conceal that the high-value aircraft may have come under attack
One of the Russian Aerospace Force’s most advanced—and most expensive—combat aircraft was reported to have been damaged on Saturday in a raid carried out by Ukrainian forces. As reported by David Axe for Forbes.com, drones struck the Akhtubinsk State Flight Test Center in southern Russia 365 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border, and a Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO reporting name Felon) is believed to have been badly damaged, possibly beyond repair.
Reports have further circulated that a second Su-57 may have also been damaged. The incident is notable as the Felon is the Kremlin’s most advanced combat aircraft. The fifth-generation multirole fighter has earned comparisons to the United States Air Force’s Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. It has a price tag somewhere north of $50 million, and if confirmed destroyed, it would be the first stealth fighter to be lost in combat—albeit not actually in air-to-air combat.
Satellite images of the “before and after” of the Akhtubinsk State Flight Test Center have widely circulated on social media, but right on cue, there has been plenty of misinformation making the rounds on social media. This has included satirical posts that poke fun at the official narrative, while clips from video games and images that are unrelated to the incident make it hard to tell fact from fiction.All The News Fit To Post—Satire Confuses Matters
The fact that actual news stories are mocked is a bit of a concern, especially given that so many users of social media rely on those platforms as their primary source of news and information. Satire is increasingly becoming a form of misinformation and disinformation, even if that isn’t the intent.
