According to spokesman Yuriy Ignat, the most important thing in any airplane is the crew, so its loss is “the most valuable achievement.”
During an unsuccessful attempt by the leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevhen Prigozhin, to march on Moscow, his mercenaries shot down a rare IL-22 aircraft. It is used as a repeater. This was stated by the spokesman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Yuriy Ihnat.
Wagner PMC mercenaries shot down several helicopters and an airplane during the rebellion attempt. It is known that in total, the Wagner air defense system shot down a Ka-52 strike aircraft, a military transport Mi-8, a Mi-8 electronic warfare aircraft, and a Mi strike aircraft. The penultimate one is important for the Russian army, because there are not many of them in existence. It is the same with the Il-22 aircraft, of which the Russian Aerospace Forces have up to 10 units.
According to Yuriy Ihnat, during the full-scale war, Ukrainian air defense systems hit the IL-22, but it was only damaged. The plane was able to land at one of the Russian bases, where it was probably restored.
“This is also an important piece of equipment that is in service with the Russian army. I think Russia also has up to 10 of them, just like the A-50. But its defeat for the first time is also good news for us. And the pilots are the most valuable achievement. You can’t train pilots that easily. It takes years to train a real pilot who can perform combat missions,” Ihnat explained.
The Il-22 operates together with the A-50U aircraft. It is a repeater, meaning that the board transmits a signal and reports the situation in the air. It is also sometimes called an airborne control center. Currently, it is not produced in Russia.
