On April 25, 2026, Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces struck Shagol airfield in Russia's Chelyabinsk region, approximately 1,700 kilometers from Ukraine's border. The target was not a fuel depot or a runway. According to Ukraine's General Staff, the strike hit several Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighters on the ground, along with at least one Su-34 bomber. At least one Su-57 and one Su-34 were confirmed destroyed; the full extent of the damage was still being assessed when Russia began moving the remaining aircraft into enclosed hangars. The base was deep enough inside Russian territory that Moscow had presumably considered it beyond reach. It was not.

The Su-57 Felon is Russia's first operational stealth fighter and the product of a program that began in 1999 under the designation PAK FA, Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation. The goal was a fifth-generation platform capable of matching the F-22 Raptor in air superiority while adding a meaningful ground strike capability. The aircraft made its first flight in 2010 as the T-50 prototype and entered limited service with the Russian Aerospace Forces in December 2020. Sukhoi's design philosophy for the Felon sits between Western stealth doctrine and traditional Russian fighter priorities: the aircraft incorporates internal weapons bays, radar-absorbent composite materials, and edge-aligned airframe geometry to reduce its radar cross-section, while simultaneously retaining the extreme maneuverability and high angle-of-attack performance that defines the Flanker lineage. It is powered by two AL-41F1 turbofans with thrust-vectoring nozzles, achieves speeds above Mach 2, and carries the N036 Byelka AESA radar with a detection range that Russian sources claim exceeds 400 kilometers. Production has been slow, estimates place the operational fleet at roughly 25 aircraft as of early 2026, making each loss at Shagol significant in a way that the loss of a Su-34 or Su-35 simply is not.

The strike carries consequences beyond the aircraft destroyed. Russia has been cautious about deploying the Su-57 in Ukrainian airspace, limiting its combat use to standoff missile launches from well inside Russian territory, a reflection of both the aircraft's scarcity and the capability of Ukrainian air defenses. The Shagol attack demonstrates that deep basing is no longer a guaranteed protection. Ukrainian long-range drones have now reached one of Russia's premier aviation facilities, targeting the most expensive and strategically irreplaceable aircraft in the VKS inventory. Whether or not additional Su-57s were damaged, the psychological and operational impact of the strike extends across every Russian airbase hosting high-value aircraft.

Identifying the Su-57 requires understanding what makes it visually unlike any other Russian fighter. The airframe is large, roughly 20 meters from nose to tail, with a broad, blended fuselage that carries significant internal volume for weapons and fuel. The wing is a clipped delta without visible external weapons hardpoints when configured for stealth operations. The vertical stabilizers are canted outward at an angle, a stealth-optimized geometry distinct from the upright twin tails of the Su-35 and Su-27. Two widely spaced engine nacelles create a broad rear profile with prominent thrust-vectoring nozzles. At distance, the overall silhouette is flatter and wider than a Flanker, with a distinctly flared forward fuselage that sets it apart from every other aircraft in the Russian deck.

The Su-57 Felon is featured in our Russian Federation Aircraft Recognition Playing Cards, the complete visual reference for the aircraft now flying, and now being targeted, in the longest air war in Europe since World War II.