A Ukrainian from Chernihiv, who in March 2022 opened fire on a hostile aircraft, received
a medal from the State Border Service.
This is one of the most interesting stories of this conflict
At the beginning of the war, Russia constantly bombed Chernihiv.
On 5 March, defenders of the city shot down one of the Russian planes.
Valeriy Fedorovych was among those who opened fire on the combat jet.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how a Russian Su-34 got shot down by rifle fire in Ukraine?
Let's get started.
The State Border Service of Ukraine announced that officials had awarded the “pensioner”
Valeriy Fedorovych with a medal “for assistance in the protection of the state border.”
Ukrainian State Border Service in a statement released on August 19 stated,
“When the Russian occupiers continuously bombarded Chernihiv, pensioner Valery Fedorovych
took his rifle and opened fire.
The enemy fighter Su-34 was targeted and destroyed.
The plane fell, and our hero received the medal,”
The State Border Service also released a short video showing Fedorovych with a rifle slung
around his shoulder, walking through buildings destroyed by Russian shelling.
In memory of the event, the man kept a trophy for himself: a fragment of the downed Su-34.
Not only this, but during the hostilities, Valeriy Fedorovych helped the defenders of
the city and peaceful residents.
Neighbors with children were hiding in the basement of his house.
When asked if he would join the army if age allowed, the man said:
"Today!
I would climb on foot, on all fours!"
The Sukhoi Su-34 (NATO reporting name: Fullback) is a Soviet-origin Russian twin-engine, twin-seat,
all-weather supersonic medium-range fighter-bomber or strike aircraft.
It first flew in 1990, intended for the Soviet Air Forces, and it entered service in 2014
with the Russian Air Force.
Based on the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker air superiority fighter, the Su-34 has an armored cockpit
for side-by-side seating of its two-person crew.
The Su-34 is designed primarily for tactical deployment against ground and naval targets
that includes bombing/attack/interdiction roles against small and mobile targets on
solo and group missions in the daytime and at night.
Importantly, it can conduct missions under adverse weather conditions as well as in a
hostile environment with the ability to counter-fire and deploy electronic warfare (EW) counter-measures.
It can reach speeds of Mach 1.8, has a range of 1,100 km or 680 mi, and a service ceiling
of 17,000 m or 56,000 ft.
Small weapons fire can hit an aircraft only if it is flying low.
In ideal conditions, an aircraft like Su-34 is not supposed to fly at low altitudes.
Many instances indicate that Russian forces appear to have held back the precision-guided
armaments that attack aircraft such as the SU-34 were designed to carry and could be
deployed from high altitudes.
The reason for doing so seems to be due to the fact that the Russian Air Force has shortages
of Precision Guided Munitions or PGMs and were instead dependent on dumb bombs.
Hitting a target with dumb bombs which have no guidance requires coming in low and this
exposes the aircraft to threats such as MANPADS and even gunfire.
While certainly, the luck factor was with Valeriy Fedorovych, there is no denying that
he very well represents the common Ukrainian who are resisting the invasion with everything
they have.