According to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian Air Force lost another A-50 mainstay radar plane.

During the last press briefing of the Ministry of Armed Forces, General Vincent Bratton recalled that having great strategic depth is “essential” to win in the “high intensity” conflict that lies ahead.

However, “Russia has strategic depth at the scale of a continent rich in raw materials and stockpiles of arms and munitions” while “Ukraine draws itself from the West’s massive and decisive support”, he noted.

However, even if Kiev has signed security agreements with many European countries (France, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, etc.) with promises to deliver weapons and ammunition, this support is no longer as large as in the past. , particularly due to disagreements in the United States Congress over the release of $61 billion in military aid.

Moreover, according to a poll conducted in twelve European countries and recently published by the European Council on International Relations (ECFR), only 10% of 17,000 people believe that Ukraine will win the war. This could have consequences for Western support for Kyiv.

Hence the importance for Ukrainian forces to show that they are still capable of dealing blows to their Russian counterparts, while they are experiencing difficult conditions on the front line. This is what they did in the Black Sea, sinking the landing ship Caesar Kounikov and the corvette Ivanovets with surface drones. Besides being of operational interest, such actions have media coverage.

In recent days, the Ukrainian General Staff has claimed responsibility for the destruction of seven of the most advanced Russian fighter jets, including five Su-34 “Fullback” strategic bombers and two Su-35 Flanker-E multi-role fighters. In January, it claimed to have shot down an A-50 “mainstay” radar plane over the Sea of ​​Azov. which was later confirmed.

Such aircraft, in addition to playing a leading role in detecting potential air threats, make it possible to establish a strategic situation over Ukrainian territory and support air operations. Considering the small number of examples in service (at least nine, according to different sources), it is enough to say that the loss of this A-50 “mainstay” was a serious blow to the Russian forces. And they just experienced a new …

Indeed, on February 23, the Ukrainian Air Force Command claimed that it had just shot down another A-50U “mainstay”. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense (GUR) was also allegedly involved in the operation. At least, that’s what she said, via a press release. According to her explanation, the radar plane crashed while flying along the eastern coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, between the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar. So it was theoretically out of range of Ukrainian air defenses.

In any case, according to Russian media, a plane actually crashed near the city of Trudovaya Armenia, in the Krasnodar region. Images of the wreckage described as the A-50 “mainstay” were circulated on social networks.

In fact the video shows Russia #A50 Without lift, the tip of the horizontal stabilizer broke off.

Some very strong aerodynamic forces involved, nasty catastrophic failure.

btw no signs of shrapnel strike, missile hit was not close. https://t.co/a1mQRO6iY3 pic.twitter.com/iZqLCwjbjK

— Tom Bike (@tom_bike) February 23, 2024

Furthermore, other images show a plane launching a decoy, as if to avoid at least one missile. Was this the A-50 “main base”?

Dramatic footage shows a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft being intercepted by several air defense missiles resulting in its destruction. pic.twitter.com/yw4NsgwyW9

— WarTranslated (Dmitry) (@wartranslated) February 23, 2024

For the moment, the Russian Ministry of Defense has not reacted to the Ukrainian claims. However, at least two Russian military bloggers (Hazardous Activity in Russia…) have claimed that the A-50 was shot down by a missile fired from the Mariupol region, suggesting that it was hit by “friendly fire”. . That said, Russian propaganda systematically downplays the blows inflicted by Kiev.