Ukrainian Army Commander in Chief Valery Zaluzhny said in a statement that the Ukrainian Air Force shot down a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft and an IL-22M command and control aircraft over the Sea of Azov on Sunday evening.
Ukraine disclosed some communication details between Russian Aerospace Forces assets. According to the released communication, the force has lost an Ilyushin Il-22M command and control aircraft and a Beriev A-50 airborne early warning radar. However, Russian sources have not confirmed these reports.
According to earlier reports, the A-50 was shot down, while the IL-22M may have landed somewhere in Russia.
RBC, a Ukrainian radio station, released audio clips of the Il-22M crew shouting an SOS call to their dispatchers stationed in Anapa on the Russian side of the Sea of Azov. The communication conveyed the crew's desperate request for immediate medical attention.
The Kyiv Independent reported that the A-50 was shot down shortly after entering service in the Kirilovka region of Zaporizhzhia, located in southern Ukraine. This alleged takedown occurred only ten minutes after the Il-22M was struck.
If the reports are accurate, the question is how the Ukrainians were able to control the area. Ukraine's primary air defences heavily rely on U.S. Patriot PAC-2s, which have a strike range of 90 miles. Under normal conditions, both A-50 and IL-22M tend to operate on the outskirts of this range to protect assets from SAM attacks. It can be speculated that Russian S-400s targeted their own aircraft, and Ukraine gets the rewards.
