2024-04-20 13:17:44
According to the Ministry, four pilots of the aircraft ejected. Three of them were rescued, the search for the fourth continues.
“A TU-22M3 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces crashed while returning from a combat operation to its base in the Stavropol region. The pilots ejected,” the ministry said in a statement.
The incident took place in Krasnogvardiya district, RIA Novosti reports, citing information from authorities.
“The plane went down in a field,” the report said. According to preliminary data, there are no casualties or damage. According to official data, the pilots of the downed plane were found alive and taken to the hospital.
It has been reported online that the TU-22M3 is a long-range supersonic missile-carrying bomber.
Ukrainian Armed Forces officer Anatoliy Stefan also shared his thoughts about the crashed enemy bomber.
“Tu-22M3” crashed, with which the occupiers bombed Ukraine. “It’s nice that hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Ukrainians died at the hands of these degenerate pilots who, unfortunately, survived,” said the soldier.
The Russian Ministry of Defense then acknowledged the downing of the TU-22M3. According to them, the plane crashed after completing its combat mission and returning to its home airfield. The preliminary cause of the bomber’s crash was “technical failure”.
The Ministry of Defense assured that there were no munitions on board, the plane went down in an uninhabited area and there was no destruction on the ground.
Ukraine says it shot down a Russian long-range strategic bomber
Ukraine said on Friday it had shot down a Russian long-range bomber used to attack cities across the war-torn country with cruise missiles for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion.
“For the first time, the anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, in cooperation with the defense intelligence of Ukraine, destroyed the Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber,” the Ukrainian military said in a statement on social media.
Russia said on Friday that the bomber crashed in the southern Stavropol region while returning to a base airfield after a combat mission, after the pilots ejected. Stavropol Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said on the Telegram channel that one of the four crew members was killed and two others were taken to a local medical center.
“I am very sorry that the third crew member has died. The search for the fourth pilot continues,” said V. Vladimirov.
Stavropol is a region in Russia’s North Caucasus east of the annexed Crimean peninsula, which has been repeatedly attacked during more than two years of war.
According to the governor, the plane crashed in the Krasnogvardeisk district of the region, about 400 kilometers from the eastern edge of Crimea.
2024-04-20 13:17:44