Often Used to Bomb Ukraine, British Intelligence Says Russian Supersonic Bombers May Be Destroyed by Drones

JAKARTA - British military intelligence said on Tuesday a drone strike on an airfield deep inside Russian territory at the end of last week, likely destroyed a nuclear-capable TU-22M3 supersonic long-range bomber.

Kyiv, which on Monday claimed to have attacked a Russian military airfield, said Russia had used its TU-22M3 to bomb targets in Ukraine with conventional ammunition.

The destruction of the aircraft, which can be equipped with conventional or nuclear warheads, underscores the vulnerability of Russia's aging but lethal long-range bomber fleet, which is a major part of the Moscow war effort, to drone attacks.

In its routine updates on Ukraine, British military intelligence said "a Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE medium bomber of Russia's Long Range Aviation (LRA), most likely destroyed at Soltsy-2 Airbase in Novgorod Oblast, 650 km (403 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

"This was at least the third successful attack on an LRA airfield, once again raising questions about Russia's ability to protect strategic locations deep inside the country," he said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday the attack was carried out by a Ukrainian helicopter-style drone that was shot down by small arms fire and that no one was injured.

British military intelligence said that if helicopter-style drones were actually used, this would strengthen the suspicion that the attacks were launched from inside Russia, as the drones were unlikely to have the range to reach airfields from outside Russia.

Russia frequently uses TU-22M3 aircraft to bomb Ukraine, he added, criticizing what it called the "famously inaccurate" heavy anti-ship missiles fired by the aircraft.

According to satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters, the strike led to Russia moving another aircraft of the same type from the airfield that was targeted to an alternative base further away from Ukraine.

Unconfirmed media reports said they had flown to a base in northern Russia.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which rarely publicly acknowledges such attacks, although it has said it would do anything to reduce Russian military assets.