Ukraine claims first ever downing of a Russian Tu-22M3 heavy bomber

A Tu-22M3 «Backfire» long-range bomber crashed to the ground today in the Stavropol Territory in southern Russia while returning from a bomber mission over Ukraine.

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Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, told the international press that the Russian Tu-22M3 bomber was shot down by a Soviet-era S-200 (SA-5 Gammon) long-range surface-to-air missile, recovered and modernized in recent times.

«I can only say that the aircraft was hit at a distance of 308 kilometers, a sufficient distance. This is the same technique and the same means we used when we destroyed an A-50 aircraft in the air,» Budanov said.

See also: Russia lost another Beriev A-50 AEW&C aircraft?

Moreover, Budanov added that the shootdown was the result of an ambush operation:

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«It was, let’s say, an ambush for a week. We were waiting for it to reach the desired milestone.»

It was the first downing of a long-range aircraft in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

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A Russian TU-22M3 has crashed in the Stavropol region in southern Russia, east of Crimea.

This plane is worth $200,000,000 pic.twitter.com/6zdi2bnqv1

— War Tracker (@wartracker4) April 19, 2024

Videos posted on social networks show the Backfire’s rear fuselage engulfed in flames (the irony of the plane’s NATO codename is not lost to me) and going into a flatspin as it plummets to the ground.

The state news agency TASS, citing a Russian Defense Ministry press release, confirmed that a Tu-22M3 crashed «on the territory of Stavropol, when it was returning to its base after performing a combat task.» The statement said that all four crew members managed to eject, with the authorities having found three of the crew members alive on the ground, while the search for the fourth was continuing.

The Russian Defense Ministry attributed the accident to a «technical failure, given that the plane landed in Russian territory, at a great distance from the front line. On the other hand, it is also possible that the aircraft was brutally hit by the explosive warhead (over 200kg) of an S-200 Angara missile and the crew managed to keep the aircraft in flight until it reached the safety of their own territory, at which point the aircraft gave way and crashed.

The Tu-22 is the most numerous of the triad of heavy bombers available in the ranks of the Russian Air Force, and is the platform from which the Kh-22 supersonic missiles are fired, whose high speed makes it very difficult for the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces to intercept. However, its production ceased many years ago, and each of these bombers destroyed is an irreplaceable loss.