Russian Tu-95 bomber suffered 'critical damage' in strike on Engels air base, Zelensky says
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The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) destroyed a Russian Tu-95 strategic bomber at the Engels air base in Russia's Saratov Oblast, nearly 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the Ukrainian border, President Volodymyr Zelensky and the agency announced on July 17.
The Tu-95 is a long-range strategic bomber that entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1956. Russia has repeatedly used the aircraft to launch cruise missile strikes against Ukraine from within Russian airspace.
"We are increasing the price Russia pays for its aggression against our country and our people," Zelensky said on X. "Thank you to everyone who is helping!"
The bomber suffered "critical damage," with the attack completely severing its tail section, according to the SBU.
The aircraft had been regularly used by Russian forces to carry out strikes against Ukraine, the SBU said on Telegram.
"Every strategic bomber taken out of action means dozens of missiles that are never launched at Ukrainian cities, Ukrainian lives saved, and tens of millions of dollars in irrecoverable losses for the enemy," the SBU said.
"Russian strategic aviation can no longer feel safe even at its most remote military airfields."
Neither the SBU nor Zelensky specified when the operation that destroyed the Russian aircraft took place, but Russian Telegram media channels reported a drone strike on Engels air base overnight on July 16.
Last year, as part of Operation "Spiderweb," the SBU destroyed at least eight Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
The operation, which had been planned for around a year and a half, targeted 41 Russian heavy bombers at four airfields across the country using first-person-view (FPV) drones that were smuggled deep into Russia and hidden inside trucks.
The SBU later reported that the drone operation caused approximately $7 billion in damages and disabled 34% of cruise missile carriers in key Russian air bases.
