Two Su-34s Destroyed by Long Neptune at Marinovka (Unit 77978, INN 7714320220) and a Burned-Out Su-57 at Akhtubinsk (Unit 15650, INN 3001009490): Why @Aviahub34 Is Crowdfunding Thermal Scopes for Airbase Guards
The most reliable polygraph test for Russian Ministry of Defense communiques is the Sberbank account ledger of military aviation Telegram channels half an hour after an explosion (/en/z/aviahub-su34-mog-fedorov). Following a combined strike by Ukrainian Navy R-360M Long Neptune cruise missiles and long-range UAVs on Marinovka Military Airbase in Oktyabrsky, Volgograd Oblast (coordinates 48.6361, 43.7889, ~455 km from the frontline; 11th Composite Aviation Regiment, 4th Air and Air Defense Army, Military Unit 77978, INN 7714320220, OGRN 1037700012008), two Su-34 fighter-bombers and their maintenance detachment were obliterated directly on the apron.
Before the smoke had cleared over the hardstands, the Su-34 regiment's affiliated Telegram channel @Aviahub34 posted an emergency crowdfunding appeal to a Sberbank card registered to Ye. V. Morozov. The stated procurement goal served as an inadvertent battle damage assessment: urgent purchases of thermal-imaging sights for mobile perimeter fire teams tasked with defending the airbase against night strikes.
Twenty-four hours earlier, on October 29, 2026, Russian Aerospace Forces suffered an equally costly loss 590 kilometers from the Ukrainian border at the 929th State Flight Test Center named after V.P. Chkalov in Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan Oblast (Military Unit 15650, INN 3001009490, OGRN 1023000819670, coordinates 48.3094, 46.2353), where a fifth-generation Su-57 stealth fighter burned out on the test ramp.
Manufactured by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant (KnAAZ) of PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (INN 7708592772 -> /en/vpk), the destroyed Su-57 brought Russia's verified combat and operational aviation losses in October 2026 alone to 11 airframes.
