Direct proof of use
Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 Flanker fighters were documented in direct combat during the full-scale phase of the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War. The War Zone reported video of two Ukrainian Su-27s making a low-level bombing run on Russian-occupied Snake Island on May 7, 2022, with the strike captured by a Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 and followed by satellite evidence of fires and damage on the island.
Official Ukrainian presidential material also identifies Colonel Dmytro Fisher as a Su-27 pilot who carried out air strikes near Zmiinyi Island and was killed on June 5, 2022, when his Su-27 was hit by enemy air defense over Zaporizhzhia region. The same source states that Fisher had provided air support from 2014 and defended Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia after the full-scale invasion began.
Sources: TWZ Snake Island Su-27 Strike, President of Ukraine Air Force Awards
Adapted strike and suppression role
The Su-27 entered Ukrainian service as a Soviet-designed air-superiority fighter, but wartime reporting shows Ukrainian aircraft using or carrying a wider set of air-to-ground weapons. In September 2022, The War Zone analyzed imagery of a Ukrainian Su-27 carrying AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles, describing it as the second Ukrainian combat aircraft type publicly linked to the weapon after the MiG-29.
The adaptation continued with guided bombs. In August 2023, The War Zone reported Ukrainian Air Force imagery of a Su-27 carrying a JDAM-ER GPS-guided glide bomb on a purpose-built pylon. In April 2024, The Aviationist reported footage of a Ukrainian Su-27 releasing a French-supplied AASM/HAMMER guided bomb, documenting that the weapon had been integrated on the Ukrainian Su-27 fleet.
Sources: TWZ Su-27 HARM, TWZ Su-27 JDAM-ER, The Aviationist Su-27 AASM Hammer
Operational pattern
The public record supports a mixed role rather than a single mission category. Ukrainian Su-27s remained relevant for air defense and combat air patrol, but sources also document low-level bombing, air support, anti-radiation missile carriage, and later standoff guided-bomb employment.
The clearest documented combat episode is the Snake Island campaign in May and June 2022, where Su-27 strikes formed part of Ukraine's effort to pressure Russian forces on the Black Sea outpost. Later imagery of HARM, JDAM-ER, and AASM/HAMMER weapons shows the same aircraft type being adapted to attack or suppress Russian positions and air-defense targets despite the aircraft's Soviet-era origin.
Sources: TWZ Snake Island Su-27 Strike, President of Ukraine Air Force Awards, TWZ Su-27 HARM, TWZ Su-27 JDAM-ER, The Aviationist Su-27 AASM Hammer
