A video has surfaced showing the desperate moments when two Russian pilots parachuted to safety after losing control of their Su-34 aircraft, which was shot down by a Ukrainian ground-to-air missile. The "Sukhoi" was involved in bombing targets in Ukraine on Monday when it was targeted by the missile, resulting in an explosion that sent the burning aircraft crashing to the ground, according to international media reports.
The pilots did not appear in the footage of the aircraft's fall until nearly the end, but images circulated on social media showing them landing in a nearby field in rural areas of Balakliia in northeastern Ukraine, in the Kharkiv region, where railway lines intersected—those were the targets the aircraft was bombing when it was downed by the Ukrainian missile.
Russian forces had been concentrating their attacks on the railway network, targeting at least five points when the aircraft was shot down and the pilots escaped. Following the incident, two Russian helicopters flew over the area, with one landing to rescue the pilots from being captured. The Su-34, on the other hand, was reduced to charred wreckage upon impact with the ground.
