On the evening of January 14, the Ukrainian military shot down a Russian A-50 aircraft and shot down an IL-22M aircraft over the Sea of Azov, People's Deputy of Ukraine Yuriy Mysyagin reported on his Telegram channel.
According to him, at approximately 9:00 p.m., the military fired at both Russian Air Force aircraft — an A-50 anti-aircraft missile defense aircraft and an IL-22 bomber that were in the specified region. The A-50 plane was shot down, and the IL-22 was shot down, but it continued to be in the air and tried to reach the nearest airfield. However, he disappeared from the radar during an attempt to climb, approximately in the Kerch area.
The A-50 aircraft is a long-range radar detection aircraft designed to monitor targets in the air, on land and at sea, and guide other aircraft to targets. Its main tasks include identifying the location of Ukrainian air defense systems, transmitting information for strikes on them, as well as escorting up to 60 targets simultaneously. The price of a single A-50 is 330 million dollars, and there are only 3 units of this type in the Russian armed forces.
