It is a new demonstration that the Ukrainians can and want to bring war into the house of the Russians to repel the invasion that has been going on for a year and a half. The airspace above Moscow has been closed several times in recent days as reports of drone strikes have become more frequent. And since this morning, flights to and from the Russian capital have been temporarily suspended. Zelensky does not claim these blows but recently declared that the attacks on Russian territory are an “inevitable, natural and absolutely right process”.
FURTHER INFORMATION
A warplane, a russian long range bomber, it was destroyed by a Ukrainian drone strike. Pictures posted on social media show a Burning Tupolev Tu-22 at Soltsy-2 air basesouth of St.Pietroburgo.
Moscow said a drone managed to “damage” a plane but was hit.
Ukraine has not commented.
British Jet Typhoons intercept Russian military aircraft: near miss in NATO airspace What happened
What aircraft is the destroyed Russian supersonic bomber
The Tu-22 can travel at twice the speed of sound and has been used extensively by Russia to attack cities in Ukraine. It’s about a Cold War-era supersonic rotary-wing bombercodenamed “Backfire” from NATO.
Modern versions, such as the Tu-22M3, can reach speeds of 2,300 km/h and can carry up to 24,000 kg of weapons, including “dumb bombs” and targeting missiles. They have been used in conflicts in Syria, Chechnya, Georgia and more recently in Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that an attack by a “copter-type UAV” (a cheap, commercially available, short-range-launched device) took place around 10:00 Moscow time on Saturday.
#BREAKING A flagship Russian long-range bomber has been destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike. Images posted on social media and analysed by BBC Verify show a Tupolev Tu-22 on fire at Soltsy-2 airbase, south of St Petersburg. The Tu-22 can travel at twice the speed of sound and… pic.twitter.com/UH9lym21Bu
— Michael Bociurkiw (@WorldAffairsPro) August 21, 2023
The place was listed as «a military airfield in the Novgorod region», where it is located Soltsy-2.
“The UAV was spotted from the airfield observation outpost and was hit by small arms fire,” the ministry said. “One plane was damaged; there were no casualties as a result of the terrorist act.’ The ministerial note also states that a fire that broke out in the airport car park was quickly put out.
The images posted on Telegram actually show a vast fire that engulfed the jet with the characteristic nose cone of the Tu-22.
While the destruction of a single aircraft will have little effect on the power of Moscow’s current fleet of 60 aircraft, the operation highlights Kyiv’s growing ability to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. The BBC underlines this, which has also verified the images of the bomber in flames and considers them credible.
“Sea baby” drones, the Ukrainian weapons behind the attack on the Crimean bridge. “Built underground, they carried 850 kg of explosives”
Drones that travel hundreds of kilometers
In recent months, Kyiv has launched dozens of unmanned fixed-wing aircraft to attack Moscow – a journey of several hundred kilometres. Soltsy-2 is located approximately 400 miles (650 km) from the Ukrainian border.
According to Kiev prosecutors, 30 people were killed when a Tu-22 missile hit a Dnipro apartment building in January.
Magistrates said the attack was carried out by 52nd Bomber Regiment of the Russian Air Force which is based at Soltsy-2.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, some of these attacks on Russian targets are likely launched from inside Russia. The case of the Tu-22M3 bomber destroyed in the Russian region of Novgorod is cited, which “adds weight to the assessment” that some strikes against Russian targets are launched from inside Russian territory.
⚡️ UK Defense Ministry: Some drone strikes against Russian targets likely launched from within Russia.
The recent successful drone strike against a Tu-22M3 bomber in Russia’s Novgorod Oblast “adds weight to the assessment” that some attacks against Russian targets are launched… pic.twitter.com/8J04azRrcd
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 22, 2023
The latest sightings (and shootings)
The latest and most recent drone sightings are reported by the Russian Defense Ministry which said it had thwarted an attack by Ukrainian UAVs after having shot down two of them over the Moscow region, precisely west of the capital, in the districts of Krasnogorsk and Shastsy.
Then, two more drones were intercepted over the Bryansk region, northeast of the Ukrainian border.
The defense ministry also said a Russian warplane destroyed a Ukrainian reconnaissance vessel in the Black Sea that had sailed near Russian gas production facilities.