The Russian army in southern Ukraine is trying to replace the loss of its second A-50 with reconnaissance drones, according to Natalia Gumenyuk, a spokeswoman for the Southern Defence Forces.
The Russian A-50 radar plane was shot down over Krasnodar Krai on 23 February, just 40 days after Russia lost the same aircraft.
According to Gumenyuk, the activity of Russian reconnaissance UAVs is very high now, with more than a hundred of them being spotted over the past day.
"They are trying to collect information that the A-50 will no longer provide. And that is why we see non-specific activity of tactical aviation, which is more likely to stay in remote areas of the Black Sea, also concentrating its efforts on collecting relevant operational data," the Armed Forces representative said.
Background. As a reminder, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine provided details of the downing of the Russian A-50 aircraft. The aircraft was shot down near the Russian city of Primorsk-Akhtarsk.