19/04/2024 Updated yesterday at 14:20|Source: ČTK, Ukrainska pravda
Russian TU-22M3 strategic bombers
The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber in cooperation with HUR military intelligence. This is the first time that Kiev has been hit by this type of aircraft. Before the Ukrainian announcement, Russia confirmed that the plane had crashed, but called it a “technical fault”.
“Units of the (Ukrainian) Air Force, in cooperation with military intelligence, for the first time destroyed a Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber, used as a carrier of Ch-22 missiles, which Russian terrorists use to attack Ukrainian cities,” he communicated Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Mykola Oleschuk.
Oleschuk also reported the downing of 14 drones and 15 missiles, including two Ch-22s, during a nighttime Russian attack that killed at least eight people. In total, according to him, the Russians sent twenty-two missiles of various types and fourteen attack drones to Ukraine.
Military Intelligence HUR added, that even the downed Russian plane carried out a missile attack on Ukraine on Friday night. Ukrainian forces destroyed it in the same way as the A-50 early warning aircraft in January this year. In this context, the Ukrainska Pravda website added that they were missiles of the S-200 anti-aircraft system. HUR said that the Russian plane was destroyed three hundred kilometers from the Ukrainian border. “It is the first aircraft of the strategic air force that Ukraine managed to destroy in flight. He was carrying out strikes against Ukraine,” an unnamed defense source told the RBK-Ukraine website.
Ukrainian military intelligence said the stricken plane was able to fly for some time before crashing in Russia’s Stavropol region. This region lies several hundred kilometers east of Russia’s illegally annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
Moscow reported machine crash due to ‘technical fault’
The Baza channel, which is close to the Russian power structures, published video, which allegedly captures the moment of the fall of the Russian Tu-22M3 bomber. Other media outlets noted that they could not verify when and where the video was filmed.
The Russian Ministry of Defense had already said before the Ukrainian announcement that its Tu-22M3 had crashed in the Stavropol region in southwestern Russia. Governor of Stavropol Region Vladimir Vladimirov on Telegram stated, that one of the four crew members perished, the search is on for the fourth. The Russian Ministry of Defense earlier said the bomber’s pilots had ejected. “Three crew members were evacuated by a search and rescue team. One pilot is being searched for,” the Ministry of Defense specified.
According to Moscow, there was no ammunition on board the supersonic plane and the machine went down in a deserted area with no damage on the ground. The resort also says the plane appears to have crashed due to a “technical fault”.
Similar statements by individual parties to the conflict cannot be directly independently verified. Ukrainians reported the destruction of Russian military aircraft earlier. The specialized Dutch server Oryx, which keeps statistics of destroyed weapons on the battlefield based on photos and footage, informs about more than a hundred Russian aircraft destroyed or damaged during the entire time of the full-scale invasion. At the same time, Oryx said that the actual losses are likely to be higher than it was able to ascertain.
Tu-22M3 aircraft designer, Tupolev company, machine describing as a supersonic bomber with a long range, designed to destroy naval and land targets with guided missiles and aerial bombs. Kiev and its Western allies say Russia is using the planes to bomb Ukraine. Ch-22 missiles can carry conventional or nuclear warheads. Russian Air Force according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) 2024 Military Balance has 57 Tu-22M3 machines.
Details of the strike in Dzhankoy
Ukrainian military intelligence HUR on Thursday she published details of Wednesday’s strike by Ukrainian forces on the Dzhankoy military airport in occupied Crimea.
