If a Su-30 was shot down in 2019 it would have been kind of a big deal, since it would have been the first A2A loss of a Flanker (and a relatively modern one at that).
But either way, regardless of whether or not a Su-30 was shot down in 2019, its lacking performance against JF-17s and F-16s still exposed its vulnerabilities, which shattered the myth of it being the dominant A2A platform in the subcontinent; Su-35S and Su-30SM getting shot down by Ukrainian S-300s or Buk-M1s probably didn't help to redeem its image, even though not one of those were confirmed lost in A2A combat.
MiG-29s getting trounced in air combat against every other 4th generation fighter (including Su-27/30/35), however, does make it a non-surprise in this instance, and indeed, well yeah that happens.
Are you telling me that the Ghost of Kiev isn’t real? What’s next? Santa’s not real either? Then who is sitting next to the General Secretary in this photo?
