Ukraine Claims It Shot Down A Russian Strategic Bomber
Ukraine’s air force claimed it shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber for the first time on Friday. The warplane is capable of carrying long-range missiles used to attack Ukrainian cities, reported The Strait Times.
However, the Russian defence ministry said the strategic bomber had crashed in Russia’s southern Stavropol region, hundreds of kilometres from Ukrainian-controlled territory.
It said the crash appeared to have been caused by a technical malfunction as the warplane returned to base after carrying out a combat mission.
It said the bomber had no longer been carrying bombs, adding that the pilots had ejected, but that one of them had died.
Following the Russian statement, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said Kyiv had “destroyed” the warplane. Said Oleshchuk:
For the first time, anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, in cooperation with the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, destroyed a Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber, a carrier of Kh-22 cruise missiles used by Russian terrorists to attack peaceful Ukrainian cities.
The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said the warplane had been taking part in a long-range attack on Ukraine.
Russia uses the bomber to fire Kh-22 cruise missiles at Ukrainian targets from inside its airspace.
Various reports say Russian missiles struck cities in the central Dnipro region of Ukraine on Friday, killing eight people, including a 14-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy, and injuring 28.
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