Putin’s nightmare 10 days as Ukraine downs £800m warplanes including jets

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Two Russia Su-35s were shot down (Image: goodfon.ru, / East2west news)
Two Russia Su-35s were shot down (Image: goodfon.ru, / East2west news)

Warmonger Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has been hit by a nightmare ten days as Ukraine shot down several war planes, worth nearly £800 million.

Ten of the Kremlin’s fighter jets and a £250 million spy plane have been down in recent days as the dollar cost of the war continues to soar. Among those lost were Su-34s and two Su-35s, the latter capable of supersonic speeds of 2,400kph.

Earlier, the third anniversary of the brutal invasion was marked with the loss of another of Putin’s diminishing fleet of £260 million A-50U spy planes when it was downed 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 ’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, reported the Sun.

Separately, a Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack is believed to be responsible for three thunderous explosions and a massive 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.

Russian model killed after calling Putin a 'psychopath' was strangled by her ex qhiqhhiqquixkinvRussian model killed after calling Putin a 'psychopath' was strangled by her ex
Putin’s nightmare 10 days as Ukraine downs £800m warplanes including jetsAnother warplane shot down by Ukraine (social media; e2w news)

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. A witness said: “Two blazing sections of the stricken aircraft were seen falling from the sky. We heard two pops and a rumble. 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.”

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”.

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.”

Antony Clements-Thrower

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