By Ukraine has successfully targeted and destroyed a high-speed Russian jet in a drone attack. Moscow has claimed that the drone was hit by small-arms fire but still managed to cause damage to the aircraft. As of now, Ukraine has not provided any comments on the incident.
The aircraft in question is the Tu-22, capable of traveling at twice the speed of sound and having been widely utilized by Russia for launching attacks on cities within Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement reporting that the attack occurred around 10:00 Moscow time (08:00 BST) on a Saturday. The incident was said to have taken place at a military airfield situated in the Novgorod region, specifically at Soltsy-2. The ministry stated that a “copter-type UAV” was detected by the airfield’s observation post and subsequently hit by small-arms fire. The result was damage to one aircraft, with no reported casualties as a result of this act.
The statement further mentioned that a fire had broken out in the airfield’s parking area but was swiftly extinguished. Nevertheless, images circulating on the social media platform Telegram showed a significant fire engulfing an aircraft with the distinctive nose cone of the Tu-22.
While the destruction of a single aircraft may not significantly affect Moscow’s current fleet of 60 Tu-22 aircraft, this operation highlights Kyiv’s growing capability to target deep within Russian territory. Over recent months, Kyiv has launched numerous fixed-wing unmanned aircraft for attacks on Moscow, a journey spanning several hundred miles. Soltsy-2 is approximately 400 miles (650 km) from the Ukraine border.
However, the Russian MoD’s description of the drone as a “copter-type UAV” suggests that it may have been an inexpensive, commercially available device launched from a short range.
The Tu-22 is a Cold War-era supersonic bomber with swing-wing technology, known as “Backfire” by NATO. It has been widely used in attacks on Ukrainian cities. Modern versions, such as the Tu-22M3, can achieve speeds of Mach 2 (2,300 km/h or 1,430 mph) and carry up to 24,000 kg of weaponry, including both conventional bombs and homing missiles. These aircraft have been involved in conflicts in Syria, Chechnya, Georgia, and most recently, Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has reported that there were no injuries in the attack, and the fire was rapidly extinguished. The Novgorod region, where the incident occurred, is located northwest of Moscow, several hundred kilometers from Russia’s border with Ukraine.
In a related development, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s defense intelligence service announced on Monday that another military aircraft had been damaged in a drone attack in Russia’s Kaluga region. Russian media also reported the attack but denied any damage had occurred.
