(Dan Tri) – Ukrainian media said that Moscow lost 10 soldiers, including 5 majors, in the incident in which Kiev claimed to have shot down an A-50 aircraft over Russian territory.
A Russian early warning aircraft (Photo: UP).
Ukrainska Pravda cited a source from the Defense Intelligence Agency of Ukraine (DIU) as saying that Russia lost a 10-member crew in an incident that Kiev claimed had `shot down an early warning aircraft and only destroyed it in the air.`
Previously, Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, announced that the country shot down the A-50 airborne early warning aircraft on the evening of February 23.
According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, the downing is believed to have occurred in the area between the Russian cities of Yeisk and Krasnodar.
Sources said all 10 Russians on the plane were killed.
In addition, Ukrainska Pravda said that Ukraine may have used S-200 air defense missiles to shoot down the Russian plane.
Russia has not commented on the information provided by Ukraine.
Previously, on January 15, Ukraine announced that it had destroyed two very important aircraft in Russia’s arsenal, including an A-50.
If Ukraine’s information is correct, Russia has lost 2 A-50s in just 2 months.
The A-50 is an airborne early warning aircraft with command and control capabilities and the ability to track up to 60 targets at once.
The A-50U is known as the `magic eye` and `giant aerial data processing center` with the ability to detect targets on the ground, in the air and on the water.
Built on the frame of the Ilyushin Il-76 `workhorse` aircraft, the A-50U can detect ground targets at a distance of nearly 300km and air targets at about 600km.
Called the `mushroom` by the Russian flight crew, the A-50U has a dome-style Shmel-M radar on top with a diameter of nearly 11 meters, including 2 internal antennas and it rotates 6 rpm, always in mode.
The A-50U is also equipped with a control center, which can simultaneously direct multiple fighters to attack enemy targets.
