Wagner Downing 'High Value' Plane Gives Putin Major Headache—U.K. Intel

The loss of a "high value" Russian aircraft during the Wagner Group mutiny will pose a short and long-term problem for Moscow's military, according to a new assessment.

It has been widely reported that during the short-lived armed rebellion, led by Wagner mercenary chief and long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russia's military lost an Ilyushin Il-22M airborne command post aircraft.

The destruction of an Il-22M has also been recorded by Dutch open-source outlet, Oryx, which tallies up military losses based on photographic and videographic evidence.

But losing the Il-22M is likely to have a negative effect on Russia's ability to carry out operations in the air and on land, the British Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

There will be a "psychological shock of losing a large number of aircrew in this manner" in the short term, the government department said. This "will almost certainly damage morale within the Russian Aerospace Force," it added.

Moscow has not confirmed how many Russian personnel died in the aborted armed rebellion, although Putin paid tribute to "the courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes."

However, channels belonging to influential Russian military bloggers have claimed that 13 pilots were killed during the mutiny. Newsweek could not independently verify this figure.

Looking longer-term, the loss of the Il-22M will likely "undermine Russia's ability to command and coordinate its forces."

Russia had 12 Il-22M aircraft at the beginning of the year, according to The Military Balance, the annual report of the world's armed forces produced by the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.

These aircraft are "high value assets," used for airborne command and control, as well as radio relay tasks, the British Defense Ministry said.

"These special mission aircraft have played a key role in orchestrating Russian forces in their war against Ukraine," it added.

But they have operated from Russian airspace, rather than risk being targeted by Ukraine's air defense systems, the government department said. Other advanced aircraft, such as Russia's Su-57 Felon jet, have also been known to stick to the safety of Russian airspace to carry out missions against Ukraine.

Moscow has been shaken by the armed uprising from the Wagner Group, sparked by accusations from Prigozhin that Russian military officials had targeted Wagner fighters in Ukraine.

Prigozhin's followers then took control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and began on a "march for justice" towards Moscow. But the armed rebellion came to an abrupt end on the road to the capital, the Kremlin said, after a deal, reportedly brokered by Belarus, had been agreed to avoid bloodshed.