Aerial drone footage released by Russian sources shows what appears to be a pair of Su-25s conducting a close air support mission for troops in contact on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar. From this footage alone, it's difficult to determine if the aircraft are in fact conducting close air support, or if they are firing deeper while above their own friendly troops.

This is significant footage, if true. If Russian aircraft are able to overfly Ukrainian positions and provide close air support to their troops on the ground, then we could start to see significant movement on the ground from Russian forces as it would signify that the Ukrainians are running out of ground-to-air defense weapon systems. On the other side of the fence however, there's a strong chance that these jets are flying over the top of friendly positions and firing deep into enemy territory as CAS hasn't been an option for either side of the conflict since early on when neither side was able to establish air dominance.

One thing that is worth noting, while I'm unable to independently verify that this footage does in fact show Russian Su-25s providing CAS, I can verify that Russian sources have been fielding far more air power than usual over the past week. At several points throughout this week we have seen multiple Russian fighter jets escorting troop transport aircraft, and have even seen four-jet hit squads on the field from the Russian side of the conflict. This could be because of seriously degraded Ukrainian air defense systems.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com