SHOCKING: Ukrainian Drone Takes Down Russian Bomber in Daring Aerial Showdown!
A flagship Russian long-range bomber has met its demise in an unexpected turn of events – reportedly taken down by a Ukrainian drone strike.
The incident, illuminated by images shared across social media and meticulously assessed by the diligent folks at BBC Verify, unfolded at the Soltsy-2 airbase, located to the south of St. Petersburg.
In response to the incident, Moscow recounted that a drone was subjected to small-arms fire but managed to inflict “damage” upon an aircraft. Oddly enough, Ukraine has chosen to remain tight-lipped on the matter.
The aircraft in question was none other than a Tupolev Tu-22, caught ablaze in the images that circulated online. The Russian Ministry of Defence elaborated on the situation, citing a “copter-type UAV” attack around 10:00 Moscow time. This airborne assault purportedly occurred at a military airfield in the Novgorod region, specifically the Soltsy-2 airbase.
In the wake of this ordeal, the Ministry asserted that their vigilant airfield observers had identified the UAV in question and engaged it with small-arms fire. The result? A damaged aircraft, thankfully without any casualties attributed to this act of terrorism. The Ministry also reported that a fire that erupted in the airfield parking area was rapidly extinguished.
While some discrepancies persist between the official narrative and the images shared on Telegram, BBC Verify’s meticulous analysis lends credibility to these visuals. The fire’s ravenous dance around the jet with the unmistakable nose cone of the Tu-22 was indeed a sight to behold.
But what does this incident truly signify? Well, even though the destruction of a single aircraft might not shatter Moscow’s current arsenal of 60 such aircraft, it serves as a glaring testament to Kyiv’s burgeoning capability to strike targets deep within Russian territory. Over recent months, Kyiv has dispatched numerous fixed-wing unmanned aircraft on daunting journeys to strike at the heart of Moscow, hundreds of miles away. Remarkably, Soltsy-2 stands approximately 400 miles (or 650 kilometers) from the Ukrainian border.
Curiously, the Russian Ministry of Defence’s description of the UAV as a “copter-type” device seems to hint at a modest, off-the-shelf contraption deployed at relatively close quarters. A far cry from sophisticated military drones.
For those unfamiliar, the Tu-22, affectionately dubbed “Backfire” by NATO, is a relic from the Cold War era – a swing-wing supersonic bomber that’s had its fair share of action. Its modern incarnations, such as the Tu-22M3, boast top speeds of Mach 2 (roughly 2,300 kilometers per hour or 1,430 miles per hour) and a whopping carrying capacity of up to 24,000 kilograms in weaponry, ranging from conventional “dumb bombs” to precision homing missiles.
This versatile bomber has had its fingerprints on conflicts from Syria to Chechnya, Georgia, and, most recently, Ukraine. In fact, Ukrainian prosecutors held Russia’s 52nd Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment accountable for a missile strike that devastated a residential complex in Dnipro, leaving 30 casualties in its wake. It so happens that this regiment is stationed at the Soltsy-2 airbase.
To confirm the location of this recent drone episode, BBC Verify played detective, utilizing visual cues like aircraft features and hangar layouts, which were cross-referenced against historical satellite images of the airbase. Notably, weather conditions during the time of the strike – wet and overcast – matched those evident in the imagery and other photographs taken by witnesses.
In terms of evidence, the remnants of the aircraft captured in the footage bear striking similarity to those of a Tu-22M3. Historical satellite records unveil a pattern of housing aircraft of this sort at Soltsy-2.
In a rather curious twist, Ukraine’s defense intelligence service spilled the beans on another military aircraft that had suffered damage via drone attack in Russia’s Kaluga region. Interestingly, Russian media acknowledged the event but brushed aside any claims of harm inflicted.
By: M Z Hossain, Editor Sky Buzz Feed
