Russia ‘taken by surprise’ as Ukraine ‘destroys’ £260m spy plane
Ukraine’s military claims to have shot down a rare and valuable Russian A-50 spy plane and destroyed an IL-22 airborne command post in what has been described as the “biggest air kill” of the war.
The planes were engaged over the Sea of Azov off Ukraine’s southern coast on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.
“The Air Force of Ukraine destroyed an enemy A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and an enemy IL-22 air control centre,” said General Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
“I am grateful to the Air Force for the perfectly planned and executed operation in the Azov Sea region.”
The A-50 is valued at $330m (£260m) and Russia had just nine in operation, according to British think tank the International Institute of Strategic Studies.
The advanced radar system is said to be capable of detecting 300 targets simultaneously and tracking a missile launch at a distance of 500 miles.
The planes have reportedly been increasingly active around the frontlines in recent months, supporting Russian offensive operations.
Ukrainian military correspondent Ilya Ponomarenko described the apparent strikes as “the biggest air kill” registered in almost two years of full-scale war.
The Kremlin did not immediately comment but Ukraine’s claims were partially corroborated by Russian military bloggers.
Military blog Rybar, operated by a former Russian Ministry of Defence official with close ties to the regime, wrote: “Another dark day for the Russian Aerospace Forces and Air Defence.”
“Tragedy is always tragedy. Especially when it’s of this magnitude,” posted Russian aviation-focused Telegram channel Fighterbomber. “Who is to blame for the deaths of the pilots, we probably won’t know.”
But the channel also claimed that the IL-22 was only damaged and returned to base for repairs, posting an image purporting to show the damaged aircraft after the incident. Military aviation specialists said the visible damage was consistent with a missile attack.
Some Russian military sources said the damage was inflicted by friendly fire, rather than Ukraine’s air defences. Russia has acknowledged shooting down several of its own planes by accident during the war.
Mykola Bielieskov, an adviser to Ukraine’s military leadership at Kyiv think tank the National Institute for Strategic Studies, told i the incident was “a good sign of either Ukrainian ingenuity or Russian ineptitude”.
“It’s a huge loss for Russia, which decreases their situational awareness and ability to coordinate employment of combat planes,” Mr Bielieskov added. “And it’s an almost irreplaceable piece of equipment.”
The apparent strikes could have lasting implications on the battlefield, according to Thomas Newdick, an air warfare specialist at military news outlet The War Zone.
“The A-50 is a flying radar station with the ability to detect anything going on in the air all the way down to a fairly low level,” he said.
“It can also track targets and provide that information in the form of targeting data to the Russian military.
“Pushing them back further away from the frontlines certainly diminishes their value… which is obviously a good thing for Ukraine.”
Mr Newdick said that the attack could have been carried out with US-supplied Patriot air defence missiles at close to the limit of their maximum range – about 100 miles – as part of a targeted operation.
“This suggests that Ukraine is pushing (Patriot systems) further forward than we thought… and that the Russians were caught by surprise,” he said.
“That suggests a targeted engagement – that they were specifically going after an A-50 or other high value aircraft.”
Ukraine has recently stepped up such operations, Mr Newdick noted, having reportedly shot down three Su-34 fighter jets over Kherson last month.
Neither side has been able to gain control of Ukraine’s skies during the war to date, despite Russia’s vast fleet of around 4,000 jets.
Moscow has increased the use of aviation in recent months, with heavy airstrikes reported around Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, and sustained efforts to deplete Ukraine’s air defence missile stocks through barrages of missiles and drones.
