The Russian Aerospace Forces claim to be the world's second-largest air armed force, with more than 4,000 aircraft of all kinds. Among the more than 4,000 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, if one of the most valuable aircraft is to be counted, then the A-50 AWACS aircraft will inevitably be on the list.
The A-50 AWACS aircraft is the only large-scale modern AWACS aircraft in service in the Russian Aerospace Forces, with a total of only a dozen units, which shows how valuable this type of aircraft is to the Russian Air Force. Previously, on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, there was a record of an A-50 early warning aircraft being shot down, and at the beginning of the war, there was also a record of an A-50 early warning aircraft being attacked by a Russian military base deployed in Belarus. Recently, according to information from the Ukrainian side, another A-50 AWACS aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces was shot down by Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire again.
On February 24, the Ukrainian Air Force publicly announced that it had shot down an A-50 early warning aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which was also the second time in a month that the Ukrainian army shot down this very important aircraft for Russia. According to Ukrainian sources, the plane was shot down over the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Kra**dar, the garrison of the Southern Military District of Russia. Although this matter has not been officially acknowledged by the Russian side, the Russian fire department at the crash site pointed out by the Ukrainian army did have news of dispatching to extinguish the fire, and many aircraft fragments and parts were also found at the scene.
What is even more surprising is that the missile used by Ukraine to successfully shoot down the A-50 early warning aircraft, one of the most valued aircraft of the Russian army, is not a new missile developed by the United States and the West, but a very old S-200 air defense missile. This missile, also called the "Sam-5" missile, is an anti-aircraft missile developed by the Soviet Union around the end of the 50s of the last century, which now seems to have very average performance, and in contrast, Russia has even made the S-500 now. Why, then, is this very old Soviet missile capable of shooting down the advanced AWACS aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces? Could it be that Russia is "careless" again?
The author believes that this should not be Russia's carelessness, but that the Ukrainian army was supported by the US and Western intelligence systems when it launched the attack. It is no longer news that American or British drones, reconnaissance aircraft, etc. appear near the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield. The author believes that the downing of the Russian AWACS aircraft this time is likely to be the news that the US and British intelligence agencies provided Ukraine with the flight path of the aircraft, and the Ukrainian army's S-200 missile is just completing the "final blow". And it is impossible for Russia to directly attack the US and British planes, so such a tactic is actually "unsolvable" for Russia.
The A-50 AWACS aircraft is one of the most advanced military aircraft in Russia, costing 3500 million US dollars, it can be seen that this matter can indeed be said to have cast a shadow on the glory of the victory for Russia, which has just won a big victory in Avdiivka!