Ukraine claims to have shot down a Russian fighter jet for the first time using a naval drone

(Patria) - Ukraine destroyed a Russian Su-30 fighter jet with a missile fired from a naval drone.

This was announced yesterday by the Ukrainian military intelligence agency GUR, which is, as stated, the first time in the world that a fighter jet has been shot down by a naval drone, Reuters reported.

The statement on social media said that the fighter jet was shot down yesterday by a military intelligence unit called Group 13 over the waters near Novorossiysk, a major Russian port city on the Black Sea.

For the first time in warfare history, a fighter jet was shot down by a naval kamikaze drone equipped with missiles

Yesterday, a Ukrainian 🇺🇦 USV shot down a $50 million Russian Su-30 fighter jet over the Black Sea, +500km from Odesa, using a reconfigured R-73 air-to-air missile pic.twitter.com/OtHYsQdt1e

— Ukraine Battle Map (@ukraine_map) May 3, 2025

Outnumbered in personnel and weaponry by a larger and wealthier adversary, Ukraine has turned to air and sea drone warfare as a way to fight back against the invasion.

Ukraine's naval drones, which are much cheaper and smaller than conventional ships, have wreaked havoc on Russia's Black Sea fleet.

Ukraine previously announced that it shot down a Russian military helicopter in December 2024 with a missile fired from the same type of naval drone.