A Russian A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) jet and an Il-22M radio-relay aircraft were successfully engaged by Ukrainian air defense over the Sea of Azov Sunday, according to a Ukrainian legislator who heads a prominent defense committee, as well as Ukrainian media.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has not officially commented on this claim, which The War Zone cannot independently verify. If true, losing these two command-and-control aircraft would be a major blow for Russia because only a handful of each exists. Beyond that, it will make flying within the same proximity of Ukrainian lines highly dangerous, effectively pushing these assets back. This would follow an anti-access counter-air campaign that Ukraine has been waging against Russian military aircraft in recent weeks using long-range Patriot air defense systems.
“Around 9:00 p.m., Ukrainian units fired at two Russian Air Force aircraft, namely the A-50 DRLO [airborne early warning] aircraft and the Il-22 bomber [inaccurate description], which were over the waters of the Sea of Azov,” Deputy Chairman of the Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence in the Verkhovna Rada, Yuriy Mysiagin, stated on Telegram.
The A-50 was shot down, and the Il-22 “was in the air and tried to reach the nearest airfield, but it disappeared from the radar after the descent began, in the Kerch area,” Mysiagin said, later updating his post to say the second aircraft was an Il-22M, a radio-relay version.
R&I-Rawr
Enterprise7
Article URL : https://news.yahoo.com/claims-swirl-around-possible-shoot-051009587.html