A-50 airborne radar / Photo from open sources
The night of January 19 was relatively calm, but a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft was identified in the Sea of Azov during the morning.
This was reported by Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force.
«It’s not often that you have a more or less quiet night in the airspace – no attacks by airborne weapons, such as drones, first of all, which we are used to seeing virtually every night during autumn and winter. This night is one of the few that was without any reports…
After three powerful enemy attacks, there is a certain lull, but this does not mean that we should somehow relax», — noted Ihnat.
According to Ignat, the Virage Tablet programme was empty, but in the morning of January 19, «5-6 air targets appeared, including the now-famous A-50 in the Sea of Azov, which is testing its fate«.
«We discussed the day before what would happen after the destruction of the A-50: another one would arrive. There is nothing surprising because Russia possesses other similar aircraft. So, there is an A-50, a fighter jet closer to Rostov, as well as operational and tactical level drones monitoring the front line», — added the spokesperson.
On the evening of January 14, it was reported that Ukrainian forces had successfully destroyed a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft and inflicted serious damage to an Il-22M air command post aircraft.