‘MIRACLE’ SHOTS
Russians fear secret Nato ‘miracle weapon’ is behind Ukraine downing TWO Putin spy planes worth £290m over Sea of Azov
A Russian Telegram channel dubbed it a 'dark day' for Putin's forces
TWO of Vladimir Putin's most crucial spy planes worth £290million were shot down as Russia fears Ukraine used a secret NATO "miracle weapon" in the attack.
One of the Russian dictator's £260million spy planes disappeared and a £30million bomber jet was set on fire after Ukrainian forces shot them out of the sky above the Azov Sea.
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They were blasted out of the air in one of Moscow's worst days for its air force since Russia's invasion in 2022.
The IL-22M bomber, worth around £28million, just managed to make its way back to Anapa airport on fire after being hit, with a number of casualties.
But the £260million A-50 spy plane disappeared soon after going on patrol near Zaporizhzhia at 9:10pm on Sunday.
Russian Telegram channel Military Informant discussed an unnamed “miracle weapon” provided by NATO and Pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergey Markov also speculated on “use of a new type of weapon by the Armed Forces of Ukraine".
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And Ukrainian commander in chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi later insisted that his forces had destroyed both the A-50 and the IL-22.
This came as a video purported to show the final flight of the A-50 Russian spy plane.
“This is exactly what the last flight into the zone of no return looked like…”, read a caption to the video.
And a picture also showed the badly damaged tail of the IL-22 scarred by shrapnel, apparently confirming the stricken plane had landed despite the Ukraine strike.
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The same Telegram channel said the loss of the A-50 is a "huge setback" for Russian Air Force resources since there are "only a few" in service and they are in constant "short supply".
The A-50 spy plane, now missing, recently underwent a £3million modernisation and refit.
It is a key Soviet-era aircraft which uses radar to detect missiles and enemy planes.
The channel described the aircraft hits as “another dark day for the Russian air forces”.
The loss of the AWACS plane was “approximately equal to [the demise of] an aircraft carrier”.
According to Russia had just nine of the A50 planes in service and 30 IL-22Ms.
After the IL-22M command plane was hit, air traffic control at Russian Anapa airport heard: "It's been hit, landing in Anapa.
“Urgently need an ambulance and fire engine.”
At least one senior Russian war commander was likely on board at the time.
Russian Telegram channel Colonelcassad admitted there had been casualties on the aircraft.
Ukraine initially claimed to have downed the planes close to Putin's beloved £3million Crimean Bridge.
But it was reported that the command plane was shot over Strilkove, Kherson, miles away from the key bridge.
Reports say the planes have been flying the same routes for months.
Ukraine's RBK outlet reported Ukrainian Air Force General Mykola Oleshchuk as saying: "This is for Dnipro! Burn in hell, you inhumans! PS No details yet".
The plane losses came late on Sunday - the first anniversary of the notorious Dnipro bombing which took the lives of 46 people and left over 80 people wounded.
Ukrainians - like Russians - are keenly aware of anniversaries, suggesting the plane attacks could have been a revenge strike.
Russian Telegram channel FlightBomber - with close military contacts - today appeared to admit the catastrophic blow and said multiple pilots had died.
“Tragedy is always tragedy. Especially when it's on this scale,” said a post.
“Who is to blame for the deaths of the pilots, we probably won't know."
The channel called for the Russian Defence Ministry - which did not initially comment on the Air Force blow - to come clean about what happened.
Russia has suffered repeated losses from friendly fire, indicating faulty weaponry as well as poor command and control.
Pro-war military channel Rybar admitted the possibility of friendly fire.
“Sadly there were enough similar cases during the past two years, and there is no sign of improvement,” reported the channel.
Ukrainian channel Crimean Wind reported: “As we are informed, a Russian A-50 AWACS aircraft was shot down over the Sea of Azov near Berdyansk and an IL-22 was shot down.…
“The IL-22, falling, pulled towards Kerch - that is why the bridge was closed.”
The channel said that all ships in the vicinity of the Crimean Bridge had their transponders turned off today.
Initially, Ukrainian sources had claimed responsibility for the attack - despite the Sea of Azov being hard to reach.
Senior politician Yuri Mysyagin said: “At about 21:00, Ukrainian units fired at two aircraft of the Russian Air Force, namely an A-50 AWACS aircraft and an IL-22, located over the Sea of Azov.
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“The A-50 was shot down, and the IL-22 was shot down, but was in the air and trying to get to the nearest airfield, but disappeared from the radar, after the descent began, in the Kerch area.”
Russian commanders have been careful not to use the intelligence-gathering planes too close to the active war zone.
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