Russia no longer has the capability manufacture A-50 AWACS aircraft, one of which was destroyed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU), said Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) spokesperson, Andriy Yusov, on national television on Jan. 19.

There are fewer than a dozen A-50 aircraft remaining in Russia, and the damaged IL-22M11 airborne command post will not be restored for “a very long time,” Yusov said.

Read also: Losing A-50 AWACS plane will complicate Russian operations in southern Ukraine — Budanov

“Russia has lost the ability to produce similar aircraft, so the effect of the loss of each such unit is multiplied,” he said.

“It is irrecoverable. This is a huge loss in terms of money. It is something they cannot bring back to the battlefield. This can be compared, to some extent, with the sinking of the Moskva cruiser.”

While the A-50 plane was destroyed in the strike on Jan. 14, the IL-22M11 aircraft it was flying with was only damaged, albeit severely, and forced to make an emergency landing in Anapa, HUR chief Kyrylo Budanov told the Financial Times on Jan. 15.

This incident represented the first-ever documented downing of an airborne AEW&C aircraft in history, said the Ukrainian military news outlet Defense Express.

Read also: Ukrainian Air Force spots another Russian A-50 AWACS aircraft over Sea of Azov

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine