Ukraine claims to have shot down a Russian military plane in Stavropol

A Tu-22M3 strategic bomber of the Russian Aerospace Forces crashed in the Stavropol region (southern) while returning to its base after carrying out a combat mission, according to the Kremlin. Ukraine, however, claims to have shot it down after the plane carried out attacks on several Ukrainian cities. It would be the first time that the Ukrainian army managed to destroy a Russian strategic bomber.

“The pilots have ejected. The search is underway for a crew member,” states the military statement cited by the official Russian agency TASS, which confirms that two of the pilots are alive.

Russia assures that the plane did not carry missiles and that it fell in an unpopulated area without causing destruction. In addition, he blames the accident on a technical failure. “According to preliminary data, the cause of the breakdown was a technical defect,” reads the official communication.

The Tu-22M3 (Backfire, according to NATO classification) is a supersonic bomber with wings of variable geometry and capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

This class of bombers have been used by Russia to attack Ukraine with missiles from its own airspacefar from the range of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses.

This Friday, Ukraine reported that at least eight people, including two children, died in the early hours of this morning in the Dnipropetrovsk region, in the center of the country, in a Russian attack with numerous missiles.