A valuable and rare aircraft were destroyed in the Russian Federation during an unsuccessful attempt by militants from the terrorist organization Wagner Group, led by leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, to "go to Moscow."
Yurii Ihnat, the spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), told about this in an interview with NV.
"During an unsuccessful attempt by militants from the terrorist organization Wagner Group, led by leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, to "go to Moscow," an Il-22 aircraft was destroyed in the Russian Federation, and this was the first case of the liquidation of such aircraft," Ihnat said.
In addition, two combat helicopters (one type Mi and one Ka-52), one military transport helicopter Mi-8 and another RW Mi-8, which creates obstacles, were destroyed. According to him, the latter is very valuable for the Russian army, and there are "not many" such helicopters in Russia.
Regarding the Il-22, Ihnat noted that Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles had already hit this aircraft, but then the AFU only damaged it - it was "a little tattered" but returned to the Russian base, where it was probably restored. He noted that the IL-22 works together with the A-50 aircraft, which the partisans in Belarus tried to blow up with the help of a drone.
"They are always flying in the south of Ukraine in the Azov and Black seas; they track our equipment located in Ukraine by radar," Ihnat said.
IL-22 is a repeater - it relays a signal and reports on the air situation. It is also called an air control point.
"This is also an important piece of equipment in service with the Russian army. Russia also has up to 10 of them - just like the A-50. But its first impression is also good news for us. And the pilots are the most valuable acquisition. You can't train pilots that easily; it takes years to train a real pilot who can perform combat missions," Ihnat said.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the Russian army lost six helicopters and one passenger plane on the day of the Prigozhin coup.
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