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Did Ukraine down two Russian command aircraft?
Summary
A look back at the claim made on 15 January 2024 over the Sea of Azov, and a related Russian move days earlier.
What did Ukraine say it had hit over the Sea of Azov on 15 January 2024? The claim was that Ukrainian forces had shot down two Russian aircraft: a Beriev A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft and an Ilyushin Il-22 airborne control centre.
The claim was reported as part of the southern Ukraine campaign in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It was a Ukrainian assertion, made on that date, about two aircraft that perform command and surveillance roles.
A separate move in Moscow
Six days earlier, on 9 January 2024, Russia placed the exiled tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on a wanted list. The reason given was comments he had made about the ongoing war.
The two reports are unrelated in substance. Both, however, show how the war was being fought on more than one front in mid-January 2024: in the air above the Azov coast, and in Russia's treatment of critics abroad.
