On the night of 10 November, Ukrainian Defence Forces struck a plant in Russia’s Novgorod region that repairs A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the attack.
As the General Staff explained, for an aircraft to drop a bomb or a missile to find its target, the enemy must coordinate these operations by conducting target reconnaissance and detecting and tracking aircraft and cruise missiles at distances of hundreds of kilometres. This work is carried out, among others, by A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft, known as “flying radars”.
“Each such aircraft costs around $350 million, and the aggressor state has only a few left in operational condition. Every aircraft is worth its weight in gold to Russia. They are repaired at a specialised facility,” the General Staff added.
The facility in question is the 123rd Aircraft Repair Plant in Staraya Russa, Novgorod region. The plant has its own runway, allowing heavy aircraft to land directly on its premises. It repairs, modernises and maintains military transport aircraft used by the Russian military to move troops and cargo, as well as A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft.
In March 2026, Ukrainian Defence Forces damaged an A-50 aircraft that was undergoing maintenance at the plant and may have been awaiting modernisation.
On the night of 10 November, explosions were heard at the facility, followed by a fire. The extent of the damage is still being assessed.
