 Russia has just nine such planes. Not all functional. Expert highlights A-50 destruction. The Air Force of Ukraine managed to destroy a Russian A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft, which is capable of reconnaissance and targeting. In total, Russia may have nine A-50s, but not all of them are combat-ready. Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military and political expert of the Information Resistance Group of Ukraine, tells RBC Ukraine in detail why the destruction of the A-50 is important and what makes this operation unique. There are only nine such aircraft in Russia, but three of them are inoperable. One of them is undergoing modernization, which it has not yet fully completed and the rest are inoperable, because they cannot be repaired, Kovalenko tells the agency. Thus, as the expert emphasizes, Russia has six such combat-ready aircraft, but even they raise questions. Because one of the A-50s was hit by a drone in Belarus, it was evacuated from Belarus. At that time, the fuselage of the aircraft, namely its DZMIL reconnaissance system, was not directly hit. And today, Russia hardly can quickly restore such complex systems. And in fact, there has been no information that it has been repaired. Kovalenko recalls and adds that a maximum of five A-50 aircraft were recorded in the airspace in the duty format. In February 2023, it was reported that an A-50 was damaged by drones at the airfield in Mashulishchi, Belarus. It later flew to Targanrog for repairs. The expert explains that Russia cannot produce such aircraft in general. It is very expensive by itself, almost $400 million. But the fact that A-50s are not being produced now and each of them is unique makes this aircraft even more expensive for Russians. Kovalenko emphasizes. According to him, such a loss for Russia means that it has significantly fewer opportunities to conduct reconnaissance activities in the airspace of Ukraine.