The notorious Wagner mercenary group that grabbed headlines over the weekend did more than carry out an attempted mutiny, it drew a serious psychological blow to Russia’s elite airborne command and control, the U.K. defense ministry assessed Thursday.
In its move to advance north of Rostov-on-Don towards Moscow Saturday, Wagner forces shot down a “high value” Russian IL-22M airborne command post aircraft outside the town of Bugaevka, killing its crew and destroying one of the 12 “special mission aircraft.”
“The loss of this aircraft is likely to have a negative impact on Russian air and land operations. In the short term the psychological shock of losing a large number of aircrew in this manner will almost certainly damage morale within the Russian Aerospace Force,” the defense ministry said in its daily briefing.