The Ukrainian Armed Forces called the human factor the cause of the Su-27 crash in Cherkassy
The Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that the "human factor" was the cause of the crash of the Ukrainian Su-27 fighter, but refused to specify what exactly happened. Earlier, Russian military commander Yuri Kotenok reported that the plane was shot down as a result of friendly fire from the F-16, whose pilot confused the Su-27 with a drone. At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian fighter was shot down by the Russian Aerospace Forces. The details are in the material of "Gazeta.Ru".
The crash of a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet during a repulse of a UAV attack in Cherkasy was due to the "human factor." This was stated on the air of Vechir.LIVE by a deputy of the Cherkasy Regional Council and head of the headquarters fund of the 3rd separate Assault Brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Oleg Petrenko.
"He (the pilot. - "Newspaper.Ru") proved to be very effective today when we repelled this attack, but, unfortunately, the human factor. Something happened that shouldn't have happened," Petrenko said.
On April 28, the command of the AFU Air Force announced the crash of the Su-27. They explained that the fighter was "lost" during a combat mission to repel an attack by drones. The pilot managed to eject, he was discovered by rescuers, and then hospitalized.
F-16 or its own air defense?
The Ukrainian MP did not disclose which error caused the crash of the Su-27. However, Russian military publications, correspondents and the media have given two versions.
On April 28, the Telegram channel Military Observer reported that the fighter had previously been shot down by its own air defense systems while repelling an attack by Russian kamikaze UAVs.
At the same time, military correspondent Yuri Kotenok said that the Su-27 crashed as a result of friendly fire.
The fact that the Su-27 was shot down by the F-16 due to the fact that the pilot of the latter confused the plane with the Russian UAV Geran was later also stated by military expert Alexei Voevoda and the Telegram channel SHOT. At the same time, on April 29, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the downing of the fighter jet in a daily briefing.
Pilot error?
According to military expert Vasily Dandykin, the Geranium and the Su-27 are completely different, but the Ukrainian pilot could confuse them if he was poorly trained.
"The Russian UAV Geran and Su-27 have different guises and different goals. It is impossible to confuse them. If it was an F-16, then the pilot was not well trained enough. Although "Geraniums" are reactive.
At the end of 2024, The Wall Street Journal newspaper, citing American officials, reported that the United States would reorient the training of Ukrainian F-16 pilots to young cadets, rather than experienced Air Force personnel. The reason for this was that during the training, instructors from the United States faced "misunderstanding and tension," since the pilots who arrived from the war zone had more combat experience than their teachers. In addition, the experienced pilots did not know English well - none of the cadets trained in Florida could understand the fighter's operating manual without help.
Eva Vishnevskaya
