Lieutenant Colonel Denis Vasilyuk. Click to see full-size image. Via Facebook.
A prominent pilot of the Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) was killed last week after his fighter jet was shot down by the Russian military over the special military operation zone.
Ukrainian media reported the death of Lieutenant Colonel Denis Vasilyuk on May 18. The pilot was the chief of staff – first deputy commander of the aviation squadron of the 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade, which mainly operates Su-27 fighter jets.
Vasiluk died during a combat mission, his brigade said in a statement posted to its official Facebook page, noting that the pilot flew dozens of combat missions and was a full holder of the Order of Courage.
Russian media said that Vasiluk’s Su-27 was hit by a R-37M long-range air-to-air missile fired from a fighter jet of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The R-37M was developed by Russia’s JSC Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV) to engage all types of aerial targets day and night and under all conditions, including hostile electronic countermeasures, from a very long range.
The missile’s range exceeds 200 kilometers, and it is capable of hypersonic speed, more than Mach 5, in the final stage of its flight.
The R-37M utilizes a complex guidance system. An inertial navigation system, built on high-precision laser gyroscopes, guides the missile for most of the flight path to the target. If the target suddenly changes course, the missile trajectory can be corrected from the launching fighter jet via a secured data link. The active homing radar 9B-1103M-350, which was developed by JSC Research Institute (Agat), is activated in close proximity to the target causing its warhead to explode and to avoid detection until too late.
The VKS’s modernized MiG-31BM interceptor jets, Su-35S multirole fighter jets, and Su-57 stealth fighter jets can also carry the R-37M.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported the downing of two Su-27 of the UAF over the past week, one on May 13 and another on May 17. The latter was likely Vasiluk’s fighter jet.
The UAF operated some 34 Su-27UB, Su-27S1M and Su-27P1M before the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine more than two years ago. Many of these fighter jets were shot down or destroyed by the Russian military.
Today, the UAF remains largely ineffective. Western attempts to revive Ukraine’s air power have so far seen very little success.
Ukraine is now awaiting the delivery of dozens of American-made F-16 fighter jets. These warplanes are being touted as yet another “Wunderwaffe”. However, they will not likely make any real difference in the face of the vastly superior Russian air power.
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another ghost of kiev flew to bandera for the joy of all “naziphobes”. slava mig-31, r-37 slava!
the ghost of kyiv became public only because of cell phones. i watched the video on the big computer screen and immediately recognized it as a screenshot video taken from a computer game. the game looks real on a small cell phone screen. and the rest was history…
was this the guy who downed mh17?
it was captain voloshin by one of the versions, he is dead for years.
it was captain gagarin by one of the versions, he is dead for years.
it was captain zalistovskyi by one of the versions, he is dead for years.
it was captain america by the most genuine of the versions, he is dead for years.
this the guy who shot john f kennedy!
this is the guy who flew into the pentacon at 9/11!
this is the guy who was involved in the moon landing!
this is the guy who created the big bang!
this is the guy who sealed ukraine’s fate and dragged the west down with it!
you forgot one my friend: this is the guy who flew the fuhrer to argentina
everything is wrong, the guy is god!
nah, porkshanks shanked that pilot long ago and called it a a suicide.
i downed an entire fish and chips bucket for seven in one sitting.
my mistake that pilot shot himself 2 times in the back of his head. btw it was obvious to see the cockpit of mh17 was shot to pieces with high kaliber bullets not with a missile. the world is a stage and the masses will believe anything they are fed on tv fcol
down there forever with john mccain.
throw him in a front line trench as a farewell to arms. give the cannibal rats a mighty feast.
mccain was the real “hero”, he destroyed 5 planes in crashes starting from training plane, which was used to fly to las vegas for weekend, when old mac was in the flight school. he almost destroyed a carrier when a rocket hit his plane (or from his plane) when he was standing at flying deck. 20 planes burnt, several tens sailors dead, 6 months to restore the ship.
rest in piece, great eurotard nazi hero. may your husband inherit your volkswagen.
lol, primitive ukrainian animals dying for western interests, such suckers! :p
i shall remain the highest king on the mountain…..of ukrainian corpses.
their sacrifices will not be in vain….. but as just reward to my vain and glorious kingdom.
now torch that pile of festering flesh and bring on the next, so’s not to offend my olfactories.
i once served him a potato in gay bar
zelensky needs to go up in one of these so another “famous” ukrainian can be cancelled out.
can’t we have a before and after picture of this heroic pilot.
you know, for pos(terity)’s sake.
“russian media said that vasiluk’s su-27 was hit by a r-37m long-range air-to-air missile fired from a fighter jet of the russian aerospace forces.”
roll the dice you fukn ukronazi clowns…