Tu-22M3 burned down after drone arrival: satellite photo from Russian Soltsy airbase has appeared

Russia has lost at least one of the Tu-22M3 strategic bombers it uses to launch Kh-22 missiles at Ukraine. The aircraft burned to the ground after a UAV attack on the Soltsy airbase in the Novgorod region.

This is confirmed by satellite images from August 21. They were published on Twitter by Joseph Dempsey - researcher of defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (to see the photo, scroll to the end of the news).

Recall that at the airfield in the town of Soltsy on August 19 broke out a heavy fire, after which the Russian Defense Ministry said that it was the result of the reflection of small arms "Ukrainian drone". The ministry acknowledged damage to one aircraft, but did not specify which one.

Some sources, however, reported that two Tu-22M3 aircraft were damaged by fire. A day later, photos of a burning bomber at a Russian airbase already appeared online.

Joseph Dempsey noted that satellite images from the Soltsy airbase agreed with circulated photos of the fire, indicating that Russia had lost one Tu-22M3 bomber.

The footage he published from one angle shows that on August 16, at least six planes were parked at the airfield. While on August 21, none of them remained there, and ashes can be seen in the place of one.

"It seems that the remaining Tu-22M3s were redeployed after the apparent attack," the analyst explained.

Earlier it was reported that the unharmed planes were moved by the Russians to Olenya airbase in Murmansk Region.

The day before, Russian war correspondents started whining about the UAV attack on the Soltsy airbase, emphasizing that Russia can no longer produce Tu-22M3s. They accused their authorities and military commanders of failing to "protect" the bombers from the alleged strikes, which propagandists always attribute to the "involvement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces."

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, in the evening of August 14 in the Russian Adygea during a training sortie fell L-39, the pilot of which was killed. Then in the Russian Federation confirmed that in this crash crashed the commander of the training airbase of Maykop - Colonel Vadim Gurov.

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