RIGHT SPEAK: UKRaine Shot Down 2 RUssian Command and Control Aircraft; ISW: UKR Disabling 20+ RU Missiles With EW Stations a Turning Point; UKR AF Strikes 11 RU troops' Clusters; GS: 86 Combat Clashes at Contact Line; RU Losses 1Day: 33 Com Vehicles, 19 Art Systems, 10 Tanks, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko,pool.file

Ukraine says it shot down 2 Russian command and control aircraft in a significant blow to Moscow:

The Ukrainian air force shot down a Russian early warning and control plane that can spot targets up to 650 kilometers (400 miles) away and a key command center aircraft that relays information to troops on the ground in a significant blow for the Kremlin’s forces, Ukraine’s military chief said Monday.

The planes are fundamental tools in helping orchestrate Russian battlefield movements in Ukraine. Shooting them down, if confirmed, would be a landmark feat for Ukraine in the almost two-year war, as fighting along the front line is largely bogged down in trench and artillery warfare.

Russia has largely ensured its air dominance during the war, as Ukraine fights with its fleet of Soviet-era warplanes against Moscow’s more more modern aircraft.

Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, didn’t say how the two aircraft — a Beriev A-50 and an Il-22 — were brought down, but Ukraine has received sophisticated air defense systems from its Western allies.

Zaluzhnyi also did not say where the interceptions occurred, though he attached a video to his social media post with an airplane tracker showing two targets disappearing above the Azov Sea, which lies between Ukraine and Russia, north of the Crimea Peninsula and the Black Sea.

There was no immediate official comment from Moscow. Russian war bloggers said both planes had come under friendly fire, though they presented no evidence of that. They claimed the Il-22 was damaged but made a successful landing.

The A-50, which is topped with a large radar, typically carries a crew of 15. The Russian air force reportedly has been operating a fleet of nine such aircraft.

A February 2023 drone attack at an airfield in Belarus damaged a parked A-50, but Russian and Belarusian officials described the damage as minor. --->READ MORE HERE

Photo: Spetstechnoexport

ISW calls Ukraine disabling over 20 Russian missiles with EW stations a turning point:

The disabling of over 20 missiles with the help of "active countermeasures by means of electronic warfare" may be a turning point in Ukraine’s electronic warfare capabilities.

Source: Institute for the Study of War ( ISW )

Details: Military analysts say Ukrainian EW assets were usually credited with disabling Russian drones but not missile systems.

ISW has previously assessed that Russia's strike campaign against Ukraine and Ukrainian adaptation to counter new Russian strike systems are part of a broader tactical and technological attack-defence race between long-range aviation and air defence capabilities.

Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, noted that the Russian missile strike on 13 January was similar to the strike that Russian forces launched on 8 January and in previous times. The Institute for the Study of War believes that Ihnat’s words indicate that Ukrainian forces can recognise patterns in repeated Russian attacks and, accordingly, introduce innovations and adapt to them.

Earlier:

Over 20 Russian missiles and drones failed to reach their targets during Russia's combined air attack on Ukraine on the morning of 13 January because they exploded mid-flight, landed in unpopulated areas, or met with an effective response from Ukrainian electronic warfare . --->READ MORE HERE