Russia Loses A-50 Recon Jet, Il-22 Bomber as Putin's Air Defenses Blamed

A rare $300 million Russian early warning and control aircraft and an Ilyushin bomber were allegedly hit by Russia's own air defenses over the Azov Sea.

Multiple Russian Telegram channels reported that Moscow lost a Beriev A-50 Shmel (Bumblebee), NATO reporting name, Mainstay, in a case of friendly fire late on Sunday. It was also reported that an Ilyushin Il-22M was damaged.

However, RBC-Ukraine reported Monday, citing an unnamed source in the Ukrainian military, that the aircraft were shot down by Ukrainian forces.

The Kremlin hasn't commented on the reports. Newsweek couldn't independently verify the reports and has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

The A-50 disappeared from radars in the Kyrylivka area in southern Ukraine and stopped responding to requests from Russian tactical aviation at about 9:10 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. local time. Later a pilot of a Russian Su-30 jet discovered "the ignition and crash of an unidentified aircraft," RBC-Ukraine reported.

The news outlet source also released a recording that purportedly shows an intercepted conversation between an Il-22M pilot, who requested an emergency landing at Russia's Anapa International Airport, and a dispatcher.

This is a developing story and will be updated when further information becomes available.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.