Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Ukraine's military has shot down two Russian commando planes, in one of the worst days for the Kremlin's air power since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion.
Reported by The Guardian, Tuesday (16/1/2024), Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Supreme Commander of Ukraine, said his air force had destroyed an A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and an Il-22 control center aircraft. The two were flying over the Sea of Azov on Sunday when they were hit at 9:10 p.m. local time.
The A-50, which was detecting air defenses and coordinating targets of Russian jets, crashed instantly, killing its crew. The badly damaged Il-22 appears to have made an emergency landing at an airfield in Anapa, Russia.
It is unclear how Ukraine managed to target and thwart the plot. One theory is that Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries – supplied by the US – were used. However, this would involve moving the system close to the front line so that it can be detected.
Russian officials said they had “no information” about what actually happened. Pro-Kremlin bloggers argue that the plan was hit by self-fire or even shot down by a team of British SAS operatives using surface-to-air missiles.
Whatever the cause, the incident is a blow to Russia's aviation sector and a morale boost to Ukraine's armed forces. Kyiv's counteroffensive last year failed and in recent months Russia has launched a wave of attacks in the east, along its frozen front lines, in an attempt to regain the initiative.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, the Kremlin has only six functioning A-50s in service. Each plane costs US$330 million to build.
Last February, partisans in Belarus attacked another A-50 while it was at an air base near Minsk. It's unclear how much damage it caused.
Since last year Ukraine has systematically damaged Russia's military infrastructure in the occupied Crimea region, targeting radar stations and other facilities. They bombed the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet in the port of Sevastopol and forced naval ships to move to safer ports.
Kyiv now appears to be challenging Russia's dominance in the Sea of Azov, which includes the ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol, which it captured in 2022. In a statement on Monday, Zaluzhnyi said two Russian plans were destroyed in what he called “a very good plan.”
Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said the Il-22 had been damaged beyond repair. He added that the A-50 spy plane was “our priority target.” Unconfirmed images on social media showed the tail section of the Il-22, apparently riddled with shrapnel damage.
Russia has suffered a series of embarrassing setbacks to its aging Soviet-era air fleet in recent weeks. Last week, Ukraine's intelligence services said they were behind the attack on the Su-24 jet, which was parked at an air base outside the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.
In December, Russian air defenses shot down a Russian Su-25 jet. Earlier the same month Ukraine destroyed a Su-24M bomber.
Ukrainian commentators reacted with glee to the news, which dominated social media channels on Monday. Illia Ponomarenko, a former defense correspondent for the Kyiv Independent newspaper, wrote simply: “Confirmed by Ukrainian command. Biggest aerial kill of the war so far.”
The Ukrainian Air Force jokingly hinted that there were more disasters to come. They posted an image of two failed plans, with the caption: “Who did this?”
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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