'Anniversary from hell' for Vladimir Putin as Ukraine blows up £260m spy plane
Vladimir Putin was hit by an anniversary from hell as he marked the start of the third year of his brutal war with Ukraine.
He lost another of his diminishing fleet of £260 million A-50U spy planes - hit with devastating accuracy by Ukraine with a revamped S-200 Soviet-era long-range air defence missile. The right wing was blown off the reconnaissance aircraft by the attack, it was reported.
Ten crew were reported to have been found dead at the crash site in Russia’s Krasnodar region, where the dictator’s official Black Sea residence and private £1 billion place are located. The eventual toll is likely to be higher.
Separately, a Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack is believed to be responsible for three thunderous explosions and a massive fire at Russia's largest steel producer NLMK in Lipetsk, majority owned by magnate and “laird” Vladimir Lisin, 67, famous for buying a sprawling Scottish estate in Perthshire.
The A-50U AWACS reconnaissance plane was shot down some 150 miles inside Russia from the frontline in a major success for Ukraine, and the worst month of the war for Putin’s air force.
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The fire at the Novolipetsk Steel PJSC is seen from across the city (social media/e2w)Footage shows the plane hit after it repeatedly fired heat traps seeking to evade incoming missiles. Two blazing sections of the stricken aircraft were seen falling from the sky. “We heard two pops and a rumble,” a witness on the ground told Telegram channel VChK-OGPU. We ran out into the street….
“When it flew over us, it was no longer intact, without the right wing with a large roll. The fuselage fell into the ground, and the left wing was knocked off by trees and landed in the courtyard of house 13 Polevaya Street. Two grannies live there, they were not injured.”
Vladimir Lisin, right, Dmitry Medvedev at Novolipetsk Steel PJSC (kremlin.ru/e2w)Footage also showed a massive inferno on the ground. Up to eight Russian military planes have been destroyed in rapid succession this month. Russian sources initially blamed friendly fire but Ukrainian sources said the A-50U was downed “as part of a joint operation of [Kyiv’s] Main Intelligence Directorate and the Ukrainian Air Force”.
The loss of the A-50U - the second in six weeks - will mean a severe blow to Putin’s aerial reconnaissance, harming Russia’s ability to pinpoint targets for missile strikes and monitor Ukrainian battlefield deployments. Some accounts say it was flying over the Sea of Azov when it was hit. It came down near Primorsko-Akhtarsk.
Vladimir Putin meeting with Lisin (kremlin.ru/e2w)Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence directorate said: “The last flight of the A-50U took place on February 23, 2024 at 15:50 from the Akhtubinsk airfield and was supposed to carry out terrorist tasks of the aggressor state of Russia near the settlements of Primorsko-Akhtarsk - Zernograd.
“An abrupt stop of the Bumblebee radar complex’s work…was recorded by GUR's radio technical intelligence stations at 18:45. The fire damage of the modernised A-50U of the Russian Air Force was confirmed by the radio interception of the conversation of the Su-35 cover crew. One of the Russian pilots reports on the radio that he observed the work of air defense, flash and explosions.” “Congratulations to the occupiers on the Defender of the Fatherland day,” said a sardonic Ukrainian aroid force commander General Mykola Oleshchuk.
The devastating fires were blamed on Ukrainian drones (social media/e2w)Russia marks this day - honouring the armed forces and those serving in them - annually on 23 February. Russian state TV was ordered to censor reports of the loss of the latest A-50 type spy plane, it was reported.
In Lipetsk, a major fire followed a drone attack and explosions at Novolipetsk Steel plant - some 250 miles from the Ukrainian border - evidently caused significant damage. Footage showed a giant inferno at steelmaker NLMK’s main plant, which makes 18 per cent of Russia’s steel needs. Reports say missiles - including nuclear - are made from steel produced at the plant, 280 miles southeast of Moscow. “Before the fire, the sound of a flying UAV was heard in the sky and then explosions were heard,” reported news outlet Baza, citing witnesses.
Pro-Putin regional governor Igor Artamonov said: “A fire occurred in one of NLMK’s workshops…. “There are no casualties. There is no threat of release of hazardous substances.” Lisin - worth around £18 billion - owns the plant as majority shareholder through An Abu Dhabi company.
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