Ukraine\u2019s Air Force shoots down Russia\u2019s A-50 surveillance plane and IL-22 command aircraft. Russia targets military sites, not the energy grid like last winter, Ukraine\u2019s defense intelligence says. Russian forces try to capture Novomykhaylivka, in Donetsk region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ukrainian Air Force shot down a Russian A-50 early warning and control plane and an IL-22 airborne command post in the Azov Sea region, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said in a statement on Monday. He attached a video to his social media post with an airplane tracker showing two targets disappearing above the Azov Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reports of the downing of two Russian military aircraft by Ukrainian forces surfaced on social media late on Sunday, January 14. Ukrainian Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk said in a cryptic message early on Monday: \u201cThis is for Dnipro! Burn in hell, monsters! Can\u2019t provide details yet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Colonel Yuriy Ihnat later said in a post on Facebook that the IL-22 targeted was able to make a landing in Anapa, but said it appeared \u201cbeyond repair.\u201d \u201cThe A-50 early warning and control plane has been our priority target. Until today, the destruction of the aircraft seemed an impossible task for Ukraine\u2019s Air Force,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the first time in history that an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft was taken down, Ukrainian news site offering military expertise, Defense Express said. Traditionally, such aircraft are kept at a safe distance from areas of active fighting and out of range of the enemy\u2019s air defense systems. They are also escorted by fighters to protect them from hostile attacks, the web site said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one in history has ever shot down an early warning and control plane. The Ukrainian Armed Forces once again did what had been considered impossible, what no one had done before,\u201d the news piece reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia has focused its recent major air strikes on Ukraine\u2019s military sites, unlike last winter when the country\u2019s energy grid was its main target. But the threat to Ukraine\u2019s energy facilities remains high, representative of the Main Intelligence Department of Ukraine\u2019s Defense Ministry, Major General Vadym Skibitskyi said in an interview with RBC Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia has recently targeted \u201csites of our military industry, headquarters, control systems and separate units that are located on the front lines,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow accurate are the strikes? Russia does not achieve the goals it set out to accomplish. The weapons it uses, particularly, Kinzhal missiles are very inaccurate. Unfortunately, they mostly result in civilian suffering,\u201d Skibitskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia continues to spy on Ukraine\u2019s energy facilities, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey have analyzed the strikes on our energy sites in 2022-2023 to identify most critical sites that could be targeted with missiles and drones,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia continues to get satellite imagery of Ukraine\u2019s energy facilities to \u201claunch such strikes if possible and if necessary,\u201d Skibitskyi said. That\u2019s why the threat to the energy system remains, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian forces are trying to capture Novomykhaylivka, in Donetsk region, spokesperson for the joint press center of Ukraine\u2019s defense forces in the Tavria direction, Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun said in televised comments on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe enemy is most active in the Maryinka and Avdiyivka directions. They try to encircle Avdiyivka and they now aim to enter Novomykhailivka to fully capture it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past three days, Russian forces carried out intense air strikes. There were 41 air strikes in the past day alone, Shtupun said. They also continue assault and offensive operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey have returned to the use of armored vehicles. In the past week, there have been, on average, 50 daily combat engagements in the area of responsibility for the Tavria operational strategic group,\u201d he said. Fighting was heaviest in the Avdiyivka and Maryinka directions, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Novomykhaylivka sits 12 kilometers south of Maryinka, in Donetsk region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s likely capture of Maryinka in Donetsk Oblast represents a limited Russian tactical gain and does not portend any operationally significant advance, the Institute for the Study of War said in a report in late December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Russia\u2019s operational objectives in the area is likely to secure the 00510 (Oleksandrivka-Kramatorsk) and N15 (Zaporizhzhia-Donetsk) highways to eventually advance further west towards the town of Kurakhove, British Defence Intelligence said in its latest update on Russia’s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n