Ukrainian air-defenses reportedly shot down two of the Russian air force’s rarest and most valuable command aircraft on Sunday: a Beriev A-50 radar early-warning plane and an Ilyushin Il-22 airborne command post.
Ukrainian media has cited government officials confirming the purported shoot-downs, but there’s little hard evidence of the incidents.
Ukraine’s RBC Radio posted what it claimed was an audio recording of the Il-22’s crew radioing an S-O-S to controllers apparently in Anapa, on the Russian side of the Sea of Azov’s southern coast. “Urgently requesting ambulance and fire crew,” the crew radioed.
Ukraine has been having a lot of success recently, due to a new weapon on the field, it is taking out most of Russia’s remaining air power.
That according to the Russian Air Force General, was already reduced to less then 1/3rd effectiveness.
Just goes to show what western military support can do. Hopefully we’ll see more support in the near future.