Ukraine successfully destroyed two Russian control and command airplanes. This major war achievement was confirmed by Kyiv's military chief on Monday, Jan. 15.
Ever since the Kremlin launched its full-blown invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military has been making efforts to retain its air dominance. With its advanced warplanes, Russia was able to do this until now.
While Russia is using its modern aircraft fleet, Ukraine is trying to fight Russian forces only using its Soviet-era defense aircraft. But, Kyiv was able to prove that it could deal huge damage against Russia's air dominance.
Ukraine Destroys 2 Russian Control, Command Aircraft
According to The Associated Press' latest report, Ukraine's air force shot down two advanced Russian aircraft. One of them was an early warning control plane.
The second aircraft was a key command center warplane, which relays information to Russian soldiers who are operating on the ground. Since the two warplanes are critical for Russia, what Ukraine did is a big war achievement.
Military experts said that control and command airplanes were fundamental tools of Russia to orchestrate its battlefield movements in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi didn't confirm how they took down the two Russian airplanes; an Il-22 and a Beriev A-50.
But, it was recently announced that Ukraine received sophisticated air defense systems from its Western allies. There's a high chance that the Ukrainian Armed Forces used these advanced air defense systems to take down the Russian warplanes.
As of writing, the Russian government hasn't made any official announcement regarding the warplanes. However, some Russian military bloggers claimed that both of the planes were destroyed because of friendly fire.
But, they weren't able to provide strong evidence that will prove their claims.
Ukraine-France Defense Cooperation Scale-Up
Before Ukraine announced taking down advanced Russian warplanes, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba and French Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Sejourne discussed plans to enhance the relationship between the two countries.
They both agreed to scale up their defense cooperation. The Ukrainian foreign minister said that they are considering tightening sanctions against Russia, as well as considering Ukraine's EU and NATO integration.
"Russia hopes Ukraine and its supporters will get tired before them. We will not grow weaker," said the French foreign minister.
Kuleba's counterpart added that he would work to fix EU, as well as bilateral legal issues so that French firms build more military production facilities in Ukraine.
