Russia denies that a Ukrainian plane was downed
On Friday, Ukraine said that it had downed a Russian strategic bomber. Moscow authorities, however, claimed that a failure during a combat mission was the reason the aircraft crashed in a sparsely inhabited region.
A Ukrainian report claims that anti-aircraft missiles were used in concert by the air force and military intelligence to crash the Tu-22M3 bomber.
Russia often employed the aircraft to attack locations in Ukraine from inside its airspace. The aircraft was also equipped with nuclear weapons.
Regarding the allegations made by Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the aircraft went down “in a deserted area” near Stavropol in southern Russia.
According to the ministry, three crew members were saved after ejecting from the aircraft, while a search was still going on for a fourth.
The Associated Press said that one of the pilots who was saved subsequently passed away.
Russia’s air force is far more powerful than Ukraine’s, but as the Kremlin’s forces gradually advance along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line in what has turned into a grinding war of attrition, advanced missile systems supplied by Kyiv’s Western allies pose a serious threat to Russian aviation.
