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Russian A-50 early warning reconnaissance aircraft
Photo: sikaraha / Pond5 Images / IMAGO
The Ukrainian military says it shot down a Russian reconnaissance plane.
"Another valuable Russian A-50U aircraft was shot down over the Sea of Azov," Ukrainian military intelligence said on Friday and published a map with the suspected crash site in southern Russia.
The shooting was "another serious blow to the potential and capabilities of terrorist Moscow," it said.
The A-50 model is a Russian reconnaissance aircraft similar to the Awacs used by NATO.
Videos on online services showed several flashes of light in a dark night sky and a fire in what appeared to be a rural area.
The authorities in Krasnodar in southwest Russia said that firefighters were fighting a fire "of about 250 square meters" and that no houses were in danger.
Accordingly, “two aircraft” are said to be involved in the incident.
There was no official confirmation from the Russian side.
The state agency Tass only spoke of a fire near Krasnodar that was caused by a “falling flying object”.
Ukraine had already announced the shooting down of an A-50 aircraft in January, also over the Sea of Azov between Russia and Ukraine.
In the incident in mid-January, an A-50 early warning reconnaissance aircraft and an Il-22M flying command center were said to have been hit.
Russian military bloggers speculated in January whether their own anti-aircraft defense was responsible for shooting down the planes.
There have been several such cases in the past two years, wrote the influential military blogger Rybar.
If the loss is confirmed, it would be another bitter blow for the Russian Air Force, as the A-50 aircraft is equipped with expensive special equipment and was only produced in small numbers.
The Russian armed forces reportedly only have around a dozen A-50s.
czl/AFP