Russia has officially "condemned" a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer over the downing of the A-50 reconnaissance aircraft on February 23, 2024, with further details to follow.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has completed its investigation into the crash of the long-range radar detection aircraft А-50 on February 23, 2024, and a Russian court has announced a verdict against a Ukrainian individual allegedly involved in the incident. An officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment. The details of the court's decision were written about by the Russian media outlet "Mediazona".
The publication reported that it received information about the verdict from the court's press service. The ruling states that the perpetrator of the aircraft's destruction, referred to as the "flying radar," is officer Nikolai Dzyaman from the 138th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to the Russian Investigative Committee's assumptions, the Ukrainian allegedly gave the order to fire, which resulted in the destruction of the Russian aircraft. The А-50, capable of detecting targets at distances of 250-800 km, was in Russian airspace over the Krasnodar region, as indicated by the investigation's data. There were 10 people on board. After the likely strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the aircraft crashed, and the entire crew perished, as noted in the verdict.
Journalists did not disclose the text of the verdict and acknowledged that the type of aircraft was not mentioned in the document. However, the publication reminded of a previous release by the Investigative Committee regarding the investigation of the plane crash near the village of Trudovaya in Armenia, located in the Kanevsky District of the Krasnodar region. It was in this area that the А-50 was downed. In a report by the Russian Investigative Committee released in October 2024, it was also explained that Dzyaman is from a unit based in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The information about the conviction of the Ukrainian is confirmed in the Telegram channel of the Russian Investigative Committee. The officer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was sentenced under point b, part 3 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of Russia — for "terrorism." Following the life sentence, he has been "placed on the international wanted list," states a message from the Investigative Committee.
Downing of the А-50 of the Russian Armed Forces — what happened on February 23, 2024
In the initial days after the loss of the А-50, Russian authorities did not clarify what had occurred, while Russian military bloggers speculated about "friendly fire." In particular, it was believed that the А-50 was struck by Russian air defense (AD) systems from the occupied area of Mariupol. However, the distance from the point of impact to the front line is about 300 km. Nevertheless, Ukrainian intelligence stated that the strike was carried out by the S-200 air defense system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The event of February 23, 2024, marks the second loss of a radar detection aircraft over the southern regions of Russia. The first aircraft of this type was shot down a few weeks earlier, on January 14, over the Sea of Azov. Another one was damaged at a Belarusian airfield using a drone, as evidenced by footage published by the Defense Forces.
Reminder: On February 7, Ukrainian military reported that they had successfully downed a guided aerial bomb that posed a threat to Zaporizhzhia for the first time.