- A Ukrainian brigade announced the downing of a Russian Su-25 fighter jet with what appeared to be a clip from a video game.
- The 110th Mechanized Brigade posted a video on Facebook on Thursday celebrating the victory.
- The footage resembles gameplay from titles such as “War Thunder,” “Arma 3” and “Digital Combat Simulator.”
Ukraine's 110th Mechanized Brigade said on Thursday it had shot down a Russian Su-25 “Frogfoot” fighter jet over the Donbas region, posting footage of what appeared to be a video game.
“We promised to continue the massacre of Russian Sukhois and we are keeping our promise!” the brigade wrote in the caption of the video posted on its official Facebook account.
The brigade said it was the second Su-25 to be shot down by anti-aircraft guns on Thursday, while Ukrainian media outlet Kyiv Independent reported it was the sixth fighter of its kind to be shot down in May.
A video posted by the 110th Brigade shows the two planes flying over a virtual grassland before the camera cuts to a frontal view of the jet's cockpit, where the plane is damaged and plunges nose-first into the ground.
Before the crash, the video cuts to blurry footage of smoke rising over a field.
The footage resembles gameplay from titles such as “Arma 3,” “Digital Combat Simulator,” and “War Thunder,” in which the Su-25 appears.
Arma 3 footage, in particular, often appears in misinformation about conflict zones such as the Gaza war, and footage of the online multiplayer game has been repeatedly used to misrepresent fighting in Ukraine.
However, it is unclear what the 110th Brigade's intentions were in posting this video, as the brigade has not claimed it is a video of an actual battle, nor has it said it is virtual footage.
On May 19, the same Facebook account announced that its forces had destroyed four Su-25 fighter jets, in a video featuring 3D-rendered models of the jets.
The 110th Mechanized Brigade and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and military press teams did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment sent outside of regular business hours.
Several pro-Russian social media accounts have used the video as a way to cast doubt on Ukrainian reports of damage to Moscow's assets and military.
“The official account of the 110th Mechanized Brigade has published a new 'alleged downing' of an Su-25,” one military blogger wrote.
Ukraine said Thursday it had destroyed 355 Russian fixed-wing aircraft since the war began in February, a figure not confirmed by its allies. British intelligence estimated in April that Russia had lost at least 100 fixed-wing fighter jets.
Russian forces have intensified attacks on the front lines in recent weeks, with the Defense Ministry saying on Thursday it had captured the village of Andriyivka in the Donbas region.
In the north, Moscow's forces have pushed back weakened Ukrainian defenses from the border and launched a missile attack on the city of Kharkiv on Thursday, which CNN reported killed seven people.
Meanwhile, Kiev is receiving new military equipment from the United States as part of a long-awaited $61 billion aid package passed by parliament in April.
