Aviation expert names complex used by Ukraine to destroy Russian A-50 aircraft

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"The Russian A-50U aircraft could have been destroyed by the S-200 Angara air defense system. By the way, these systems were withdrawn from service in 2013. It was a period when people with ties to the Russian Federation worked in Ukraine's defense sector. That's why they were hastily decommissioning these missiles. If we're talking about the S-200, this is a system that was developed specifically to destroy aircraft and long-range enemy targets. In 2015-2016, Ukraine had a plan to restore and return these systems to combat duty in the Armed Forces," Dolintse said.

The expert noted that the exact number of S-200 missiles in stock in Ukraine remains unknown.

"We had a certain number of missiles for the S-200 systems in storage. In 2013, the S-200 systems were still in a state of combat readiness. They were all serviced and could perform all the necessary tasks. Therefore, we can conclude that we have a certain number of such weapons. The question of the availability of missiles for the S-200 remains open," he added.

• On the evening of Friday, February 23, the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed a Russian A-50U aircraft. Instead, Russia claimed that the aircraft crashed, causing the reeds to catch fire.
• Ukrainska Pravda, citing sources in the intelligence, reported that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had shot down a Russian A-50 aircraft with a Soviet S-200 air defense system.