Russia accidentally shot down their own £275 million spy plane over occupied Ukraine, Pro-Kremlin military bloggers have claimed.
Vladimir Romanov stated that a missile fired from Mariupol, the Ukrainian city captured by Russian forces in 2022, struck the Beriev A-50 Soviet-built plane, causing it to crash near the Sea of Azov.
Romanov informed his 140,000 followers, stating, “The enemy has nothing to do with it again. The launches were from the Mariupol area. An air defense missile (not fired by the enemy) hit the A-50, causing it to break into two parts.”
Romanov also shared two videos depicting the purported shooting down of the A-50. The first video shows air defense missiles targeting an aircraft, while the second shows the alleged crash site, accompanied by a woman commentator describing a “huge explosion.”
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This marks the second loss of an A-50 spy plane for Russia in just over a month. In January, Ukraine claimed responsibility for shooting down an A-50 over the Sea of Azov.
Discrepancy surrounding the downed A-50 spy plane
My apologies for the oversight. Here’s the revised sentence with transition words:
Despite Ukrainian commanders claiming that their forces had downed the A-50 on Friday evening, Fighterbomber, another Russian Telegram channel with close ties to Russia’s air force, argued that Ukrainian air defenses could not have hit the aircraft as it was too far from the frontline.
“It’s not possible to determine at the moment who shot it down,” he stated. “But this is 256km (159 miles) from the frontline…”
The Russian Ministry of Defence has not issued a statement regarding the incident.
Russia’s A-50 planes, equivalent in size to transport aircraft and manned by 15 crew members, feature a massive fixed radar atop their fuselage, offering military commanders crucial visibility over the battlefield.
Allegedly, Russia started the war with just nine A-50s and reportedly lacks the capacity to produce more.
Well-connected military bloggers in Russia have frequently criticized Russian military leadership and leaked sensitive information that has embarrassed the Kremlin.
This week, a Russian military blogger allegedly committed suicide after being compelled to remove posts disclosing that 17,000 Russian soldiers had died in the capture of Avdiivka, a statement that had angered the Russian Ministry of Defense.