Ukraine says it destroys Russian spy aircraft and airborne command put up – Euractiv

Ukraine mentioned on Monday (15 January) it had destroyed a Russian Beriev A-50 spy aircraft and an Ilyushin Il-22 airborne command put up within the Sea of Azov space, dealing a blow to Russian navy operations in occupied southern Ukraine.

“Ukraine’s Air Power destroyed an enemy A-50 long-range radar detection plane and an enemy IL-22 air management centre,” military chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“I’m grateful to the Air Power for the superbly deliberate and executed operation within the Azov Sea area!”

Closely broken, the IL-22 plane reportedly landed at Anapa airport in southern Russia.

Russian media have apparently tried to save lots of face by reporting that the “incidents” had been as a consequence of “pleasant fireplace.”

The variations couldn’t be independently verified.

The Ukrainian defence ministry valued the A-50 plane at $330 million. Kyiv’s statements didn’t say how the planes had been destroyed.

The A-50, which first got here into service close to the top of the Soviet period, is a big Airborne Early Warning and Management plane that may scan an space a number of hundred kilometres throughout for enemy plane, ships and missiles.

Some Russian navy bloggers mentioned the downing of the plane can be an enormous loss for Russia’s air pressure, since there was a restricted variety of the planes in service.

“Will probably be one other darkish day for the Russian Aerospace Forces and Air Protection,” wrote Rybar, a blogger with practically 1.2 million subscribers who supplies working commentary on Russia’s warfare in Ukraine.

“There aren’t many A-50s. And the specialists working them are typically uncommon. If an plane of this sort is hit, the crew will be unable to flee.”

It was not clear what number of A-50s Russia has in service.

London-based assume tank IISS mentioned in a 2021 report that Russia had 9 A-50 plane in operation, together with 4 modernised A-50U planes.

The Russian defence ministry mentioned early final 12 months that the modernised A-50U had been finishing up missions throughout the warfare in Ukraine.

The plane, which matches by the NATO reporting identify of Mainstay, can detect greater than 300 targets concurrently, it mentioned. It may well detect and monitor a missile launch at a distance of 800 kilometres (497 miles) and floor and sea targets at 300 km.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)

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