KYIV — The Ukrainian Air Drive shot down a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection and management airplane and an IL-22 command airplane over the Sea of Azov on Sunday night, Ukrainian Military Commander in Chief Valery Zaluzhny stated in an announcement.
”I’m grateful to the air pressure for the superbly deliberate and executed operation within the Azov Sea area!” he stated.
In accordance with the sooner stories the A-50 was downed, whereas the IL-22 might have managed to land someplace in Russia. Russian pro-war channels claimed that the IL-22 managed to land, however there have been wounded on board.
Although the Kremlin has not confirmed it but, Ukrainian Air Drive Commander Mykola Oleshchuk stated in a cryptic message: “That is for Dnipro, monsters. Burn in hell! Can’t present particulars but.”
He illustrated his message with a airplane emoji and a photograph of a civilian constructing that Russians hit with a missile in Dnipro on January 14 final yr, killing greater than 30 folks.
Yuriy Mysiahin, a Ukrainian MP and a member of the parliament’s protection committee, had extra particulars. In accordance with his assertion, round 9 p.m. on Sunday, Ukrainian forces fired at two Russian navy plane — an A-50 and an IL-22, which was shadowing the radar airplane as each have been flying over the Sea of Azov.
“The A-50 was shot down, and the IL-22M was broken, nevertheless it was within the air and tried to achieve the closest airfield, nevertheless it disappeared from the radar after the descent started, within the Kerch space of Crimea,” Mysiahin stated in an announcement.
Russian pro-war telegram channels to date are divided on what occurred over Azov. Some, like Russian aviation blogger and navy pilot Fighterbomber have been “mourning the tragedy” whereas channels like Rybar stated that “if the downing is confirmed … this might be one other black day for the Russian Air Drive and Air Protection Forces.”
“A tragedy is at all times a tragedy particularly when it’s of such a scale. Who’s responsible for the deaths of the pilots, we are going to most probably by no means discover out. To the useless I want the everlasting flight, to the wounded, a speedy restoration and return to service,” Fighterbomber stated.
A-50 is a high-value goal; it’s a four-engine jet-propelled plane, outfitted with a rotating radar that scans 360 levels, detecting radars and potential targets within the air and on land. It has a 15-person crew. In accordance with totally different estimates, Russia had between 10 and 12 of the radar planes as of 2022. In March 2023, Ukrainian saboteurs broken one A-50 parked on an airfield in Machulishchi, Belarus with a drone.
“In easy phrases, it is a highly effective radar that may detect targets at a 200-400 km distance as it’s raised by an plane to a top of as much as 12 km. The radar sees a lot additional than floor stations,” Ukrainian aviation professional and blogger Vitaly Trubnikov instructed POLITICO.
“A-50 can transmit the coordinates of targets to fighters whose radar is much less highly effective and can’t see at such distances. Additionally, it might conduct radio-electronic reconnaissance (EPR), for instance, detect the coordinates of enemy floor radars. It’s also outfitted with digital warfare gear. Along with all this, a specifically skilled crew that is aware of how you can handle all this complicated and costly gear can also be worthwhile,” he added.