 The Defense Forces of Ukraine have downed a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft, Nikola Ulshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force said this. And A-50 aircraft with the alias Bayon has done its time in the sky. Greetings to the occupiers on the day of the Defender of the Motherland, you should have celebrated at home quietly, maybe you wouldn't have wrecked your Bayon. I am grateful to Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and everyone who made this possible. It will keep working. Together to the victory, Ulshchuk said. The plane was hit between the Russian cities of Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar, Ukrainian military sources said, over 200 kilometers from the front line. According to Russian telegram channels, the residents of the settlement of Trudovaya Armenian and the Krasnodar cry witnessed the fall of the aircraft engulfed by flames. The Defense Forces of Ukraine have downed a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft from a Soviet anti-aircraft system S-200.Ior Romanenko, former deputy head of the general staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine responsible for air defense, revealed that Ukrainian soldiers were trained to strike ground targets with S-200 systems. Pro-Russian military media observers claim the downing of the aircraft was due to friendly fire, Russian anti-aircraft gunners engaging the A-50 by mistake. Ukraine, however claims they shot down the aircraft using a surface-to-air missile, the Berive-50, colloquially known as the Mainstay, is a critical cog in Russia, crafted from the Ilyushin-IL-76 platform. The disappearance of such an aircraft from the Russian stronghold is a significant loss. Coincidentally, this incident might represent the second time an A-50 has fallen since the start of Russia's offensive against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In the first month of 2024, another A-50 found its demise in the Sea of Ozov. This event coincides with an incident involving an IL-22 that suffered substantial damage from a missile but managed to stick its landing nonetheless, the Defense Ministry of the Ukrainian government said in a statement that each A-50 costs about $350 million to make. Defense experts also believe Russia will have a tough time replacing the aircraft due to the high cost, and the fact that parts will be hard to produce because of sanctions according to sources from Ukraine, 9A-50 and A-50U models are presently being used for territorial supervision. They alternate monitoring duties over the Russian territories of Kursk and Voronezh, the claimed territories of Crimea and the Black Sea. According to the military balance, this fleet is a representation of all the existing long-range radar detection and command planes under Russian services. The operational range of the A-50 is impressive, with a range of 5,000 kilometers and an endurance of up to 7 hours without refueling. Even like refueling, it can stay airborne for extended periods, providing continuous surveillance and command in control.