<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Ukraine said today it had destroyed a Russian Beriev A-50 spy plane and an Ilyushin Il-22 airborne command post in the Sea of Azov area, dealing a blow to Russian military operations in occupied southern Ukraine.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>“Ukraine’s air force destroyed an enemy A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and an enemy IL-22 air control centre,” army chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.</div><div><br></div><div>“I am grateful to the air force for the perfectly planned and executed operation in the Azov Sea region!”</div><div><br></div><div>Reuters was unable to verify the statement independently.</div><div><br></div><div>The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.</div><div><br></div><div>The Ukrainian defence ministry valued the A-50 aircraft at US$330 million.</div><div><br></div><div>Kyiv’s statements did not say how the planes had been destroyed.</div><div><br></div><div>The A-50, which first came into service near the end of the Soviet era, is a large Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft that can scan an area several hundred kilometres across for enemy aircraft, ships and missiles.</div><div><br></div><div>Some Russian military bloggers said the downing of the aircraft would be a huge loss for Russia’s air force, since there was a limited number of the planes in service.</div><div><br></div><div>“It will be another dark day for the Russian aerospace forces and air defence,” wrote Rybar, a blogger with nearly 1.2 million subscribers that supports and provides running commentary on Russia’s war in Ukraine.</div><div><br></div><div>“There are not many A-50s. And the specialists operating them are generally rare. If an aircraft of this type is hit, the crew will not be able to escape.”</div><div><br></div><div>It was not clear how many A-50s Russia has in service.</div><div><br></div><div>London-based think tank IISS said in a 2021 report that Russia had nine A-50 aircraft in operation, including four modernised A-50U planes.</div><div><br></div><div>The Russian defence ministry said early last year that the modernised A-50U had been carrying out missions during the war in Ukraine.</div><div><br></div><div>The aircraft, which goes by the Nato reporting name of Mainstay, can detect more than 300 targets simultaneously, it said.</div><div><br></div><div>It can detect and track a missile launch at a distance of 800km and ground and sea targets at 300km. - Reuters&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>