[dabigv13]

New general death, but this one is different from the others. For one this (63yo) general was flying an attack aircraft at low elevation before getting hit by a stinger. Guess the new Top Gun with old Tom Cruise isn't so unrealistic.

This guy really is Russian Maverick- was actually kicked out of the Russian Air Force a decade ago after crashing an Su-27 (that he wasn't qualified to fly and borrowed from his colonel buddy) while trying to do acrobatics. He was apparently flying for the paramilitary Wagner force rather than RuAF.

Pretty bizarre. Does Russia not have enough younger qualified Su-25 pilots? Did this guy just have some weird death wish and enough friends still in the force that he could get seat time? How integrated are Wagner jets with the actual Russian air force?

Just extremely strange all around.

[Tweet]https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1529099517005639682?s=20&t=o2By3UZVe73Oipq9u6dXrg[/tweet]

And this may be on board footage from the very jet, though before it was struck by a missile. It's a claimed Wagner Su-25 from a couple weeks ago, operating near Popasna.

[Tweet]https://twitter.com/RS0TM/status/1524101831214968832?s=20&t=FDWVUDH-e8vwzv3bdnWREA[/tweet]

[dabigv13]

New general death, but this one is different from the others. For one this (63yo) general was flying an attack aircraft at low elevation before getting hit by a stinger. Guess the new Top Gun with old Tom Cruise isn't so unrealistic.

This guy really is Russian Maverick- was actually kicked out of the Russian Air Force a decade ago after crashing an Su-27 (that he wasn't qualified to fly and borrowed from his colonel buddy) while trying to do acrobatics. He was apparently flying for the paramilitary Wagner force rather than RuAF.

Pretty bizarre. Does Russia not have enough younger qualified Su-25 pilots? Did this guy just have some weird death wish and enough friends still in the force that he could get seat time? How integrated are Wagner jets with the actual Russian air force?

Just extremely strange all around.

[Tweet]https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1529099517005639682?s=20&t=o2By3UZVe73Oipq9u6dXrg[/tweet]

And this may be on board footage from the very jet, though before it was struck by a missile. It's a claimed Wagner Su-25 from a couple weeks ago, operating near Popasna.

[Tweet]https://twitter.com/RS0TM/status/1524101831214968832?s=20&t=FDWVUDH-e8vwzv3bdnWREA[/tweet]