No less than two A-50 Russian surveillance plane have been broken in Ukraine's June 1 drone strike inside Russia, the Telegraph reported on June 3, citing footage seen by the publication.
The Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) executed Operation Spiderweb on June 1, concentrating on 4 key air bases and destroying round 40 heavy bombers by smuggling vans of first-person-view (FPV) drones deep inside Russia.
Footage shared with the Telegraph reportedly exhibits Ukrainian drones hitting two A-50s, uncommon Russian spy planes that Moscow depends on for a number of important features in its full-scale struggle towards Ukraine.
Drones struck the radar domes of two A-50 plane, in accordance with the Telegraph. One airplane seemed to be protected by sandbags alongside its wings, whereas the opposite had tires organized throughout its airframe.
Open supply satellite tv for pc photos from Might 2 seem present two A-50s stationed on the Ivanovo air base in Russia's Ivanovo Oblast, one of many airfields focused in Operation Spiderweb. The footage shared with the Telegraph makes it clear that these are the identical A-50s broken within the June 1 assault.
The video additionally reportedly exhibits a number of Tupolev bombers in flames after sustaining direct hits from Ukrainian drones.
An SBU supply informed the Kyiv Unbiased on June 1 that A-50s have been among the many plane hit within the assault, however the declare couldn’t be verified on the time.
Russia's A-50s detect air protection programs, information missiles, and coordinate targets for Russian fighter jets. The plane carry an estimated price ticket of round $350 million.
They’re additionally extraordinarily uncommon: Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's army intelligence company (HUR), mentioned in February 2024 that Moscow solely had six A-50s in its arsenal.
Ukraine beforehand shot down two A-50s in January and February 2024.
Kyiv's audacious drone strike deep inside Russia took 18 months of planning and dealt a serious blow to Russia's fleet of bombers — solely days after Moscow launched a collection of record-breaking mass aerial assaults towards Ukraine.
The SBU reported that the operation prompted roughly $7 billion in damages and disabled 34% of cruise missile carriers in key Russian airbases.
The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov
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