Ukraine claims to have destroyed a Russian surveillance plane.
Ukraine’s air force commander, Mykola Oleshchuk, said: “The A-50 with the call sign ‘Bayan’ has flown its last!”
Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted military sources as saying the A-50 was downed over Russian territory, between the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar.
Russian news agencies quoted emergency services in southern Krasnodar region as saying that fragments of an aircraft were found in marshland in Kanevskoy district and firefighters extinguished a blaze.
The Beriev A-50 is a Soviet airborne early warning and control aircraft used by Moscow for reconnaissance missions.
Earlier this month, British military intelligence noted a mid-air explosion of another Russian A-50U, which Ukraine also claims to have shot down.
That was thought to be the first downing of such an aircraft this century, with today’s representing the second if verified.
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