Ukraine Claims To Shoot Falls Russian Strategic Bomber After Air Attack In Dnipro, Moscow Says Accident

Illustration of Russia's Tu-22M3 strategic bomber. (Wikimedia Commons/Dmitriy Pichugin)

JAKARTA - Ukraine claims to have succeeded in bringing down Russian bombers after carrying out airstrikes on Dnipro that killed at least eight people, while Moscow called it an accident due to engine failure.

A strategic Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in Russia's southern Sovropol region on Friday morning local time, the Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Ministry of Defense as saying, quoted by Reuters on April 20.

Kyiv said it managed to shoot down the Russian strategic bomber about 300 kilometers from its border, after taking part in an airstrike that killed at least eight people, including two children in the Dnipropxisk region.

Missiles rained down on Dnipro City and surrounding areas in the early hours of the morning, damaging residential buildings, main train stations and injuring at least 28 civilians, regional officials said.

Air force commander and military spy agency Kyiv said they had shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber that fired missiles at Ukraine during last night's attack.

The warship, they said, had flown in Russian airspace 300 km from the Ukrainian border.

An intelligence source told Reuters Kyiv had used a modified S-200 air defense missile for the attack, but did not say where the missile was fired from.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 15 missiles, including two Kh-22 cruise missiles and 14 drones overnight.

Meanwhile, air defenses shot down 11 of the 16 missiles and nine of the 10 drones that attacked the Dnipropxisk region, said Governor Serhiy Lysak.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the death toll from the Russian attack was about eight people. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said a 14-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy had been killed.

"Dnipropximsk's area survived hell. But who wants to be destroyed by Russia with their missiles? No one can unite in the same tragedy Ukraine has done," said Governor Lysak.

Separately, the Russian Ministry of Defense said the Air Force's Tu-22M3 bomber crashed after completing a combat mission while returning to the airfield in the Sovropol Region. The ministry stressed there was no ammunition on board and no damage on land, quoted from TASS.

The plane crashed in a field in Krasnogvardeysky District, Sovropol Region, southern Russia. Based on preliminary data, the cause of the accident was technical damage.

Two military aircraft pilots that crashed in Russia's Sovropol Region have been hospitalized, another one has been evacuated, the fourth pilot is being sought, said Vladimir Vladimirov.

"Two Russian military aircraft pilots have been taken to a regional medical facility. All necessary medical assistance has been provided. Other pilots were evacuated from the location alive. A search for the fourth crew members is underway," Vladimirov wrote on his Telegram channel.

Later, one of the crew members who crashed in the Russian Sovropol Region was killed.

"We have received clarification data regarding the crash of a Russian military plane in Krasnogvardysky District. We deeply regret the death of a third crew. I extend my condolences to his family and friends. The search for the fourth pilot continues," he wrote on Telegram.