Ukraine may have just scored its longest-range drone strike yet in Russian territory — a Tu-22M3 supersonic bomber around 1,100 miles away

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Ukraine may have just scored its longest-range drone strike yet in Russian territory — a Tu-22M3 supersonic bomber around 1,100 miles away

Ukraine says it struck a Tu-22M3 bomber around 1,100 miles from its border.

This would be Ukraine’s deepest strike on Russian territory since the war began.

The Tu-22M3 is a long-range supersonic bomber designed to take out sea- and ground-based targets.

Ukraine said it hit a

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a record-breaking 1,100 miles from its borders, Ukrainska Pravda

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, citing sources in the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

The sources said that Ukraine had used reconnaissance drones to strike Olenya airfield in Murmansk in northwestern Russia, which they said was “the base of the strategic aircraft of the Russian occupiers.”

If confirmed, it would mark the deepest ******* on Russian territory that Ukraine has carried out since the start of the war, while also raising major questions about Russia’s air defenses.

It would beat the previous record of just over 800 miles, which was set in May when Ukraine hit an oil refinery in Salavat, in Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan.

Satellite imagery of Olenya airfield, reviewed by Business Insider, shows a large number of ******** at the site.

Defense blogger David Axe

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that the Olenya airbase is regularly home to around 63 Tu-22M3s, 55 Tu-95s, and 17 Tu-160s.

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Satellite image of Olenya airbase showing a horde of Russian ********.

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Earth

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Bloomberg also

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the *******, citing a person familiar with the operation.

Russia’s defense ministry has not commented on the reports.

Ukraine

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in recent months.

Mick Ryan, a retired *********** army general, wrote on

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earlier this year that such attacks could “force a Russian reassessment of their air defense resources as well as having to redeploy these assets further from where they are most needed.”

But the ******* on Olenya, if confirmed, would suggest Russian aircraft are vulnerable even deep inside Russian territory.

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A Tu-22M3 bomber.Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File

Tu-22M3

The Tu-22M3 is a “long-range supersonic missile carrier bomber” designed to take out sea- and ground-based targets using guided missiles and aerial ******, according to its manufacturer

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website.

The head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, previously told

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that the *******-era aircraft carries Kh-22 missiles, adding that the munitions “have perhaps brought the most destruction” to Odesa in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine said it

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of the war back in April at an airbase in southern Russia around 200 miles from Ukraine.

A video shared on X appeared to show the bomber falling through the sky.

On the night of April 19, 2024, Russia launched a combined missile and UAV ******* against Ukraine.As a result of a special operation, for the first time, the anti-aircraft missile units in cooperation with the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine destroyed the Tu-22M3…

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated)

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Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said earlier this month that it had foiled a Ukrainian plot to ******* a Tu-22M3 and fly it to Ukraine.

“Ukrainian intelligence intended to recruit a Russian military pilot for a monetary reward and the provision of Italian citizenship, to persuade him to fly and land a missile carrier in Ukraine,” the FSB said on its website,

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reported.

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#Ukraine #scored #longestrange #drone #strike #Russian #territory #Tu22M3 #supersonic #bomber #miles

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