The accident occurred early in the morning in the Krasnogvarde district near St. Petersburg, approximately 300 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The crew was returning from a combat mission when the bomber crashed into a field. A video circulating on the Telegram social network shows a fire engulfing virtually the entire tail, with the plane plummeting to the ground in a flat spiral.
Rescue teams immediately rushed to the scene of the accident. The crew managed to eject before impact, but only half managed to save themselves. While one member was found dead, the ground collapsed after another.
The Russian Defense Ministry tentatively cited technical difficulties as the cause of the accident, adding that there was no ammunition on board at the time of the accident. In contrast, Ukrainian sources say that the plane was shot down after firing Kh-22 missiles at Ukrainian cities. “This is the first strategic aircraft that Ukraine was able to destroy during its flight,” a source from the Ukrainian Defense Forces told the RBC Ukraine website. “(The plane) was firing in Ukraine.”
Shot from the plane crash (Source: X | NEXTA)
Another source for the Novoe Vremia website said that the plane was shot down by a Soviet-made S-200 anti-aircraft system. He added that a similar method was used on January 14 when the Russian Beriev A-50 early warning aircraft was shot down over the Sea of Azov.
The Tupolev Tu-22M is a strategic bomber developed during Soviet times. Since then, it has been modernized several times, including the Tu-22M3 version, nicknamed “Backfire”. The aircraft of this series reach a speed of over 2,000 kilometers per hour and can carry over 12 tons of ammunition.
