Russia actively uses at least six Tu-160-type bombers that Ukraine gave to Russia in 1999 as a payment of gas debt, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Schemes' investigation showed on Nov. 26.
The investigation also identified pilots flying the planes and launching missile strikes against Ukraine. Russia regularly uses its strategic aviation to attack cities and infrastructure across Ukraine.
Ukraine handed over Tu-160 supersonic heavy bombers in 1999 as part of a larger debt payment for Russian gas. The journalists identified the planes by comparing their old serial numbers in archives and aviation registries.
RFE/RL was also able to identify some pilots flying these planes against Ukraine, like Oleg Skytskyi, a serviceman of the 22nd Aviation Division, which Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) says is "responsible for numerous victims and destruction in Ukraine," one of them likely being launching a missile that killed an RFE/RL journalist in Kyiv on April 28, 2022.
In the 1999 arms transfer, Kyiv transferred to Moscow eight Tu-160 and three Tu-95MS heavy bombers, as well as 575 Kh-55 cruise missiles, with Russia writing off $275 million in gas debt, 10% of the assets' real value.
The transferred Kh-55 missiles were also used against Ukraine, an earlier investigation by Radio Free showed.
The Tu-160 strategic bombers are among the biggest warplanes ever operated, but they are only sparsely used due to maintenance problems. They were the latest heavy strategic bombers designed in the Soviet Union, capable of carrying conventional and nuclear weaponry.
Their last use was on Nov. 17, when Russia launched one of the largest aerial strikes on Ukraine, killing seven civilians and damaging its energy grid.
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