Russia's strategic fleet: A tale of theft and intrigue
Russian strategic aviation consists of two types of aircraft – the jet-powered Tu-160 with variable-sweep wings and the older, but more numerous, Tu-95 with turboprop engines. According to Ukrainian sources, most of the Tu-95s currently operated by Russia were acquired through an unusual theft that allowed Russia to expand its strategic aviation in the 1990s.
Russian propaganda eagerly boasts about the Tu-160 aircraft, whose production was resumed in 2015 after many years of hiatus. The "White Swans," as these aircraft are called, are, contrary to propaganda claims, not only rather outdated but also very few in number. The Russian air force has 13 to 16 of these aircraft at its disposal, but the number actually fit to fly is unknown.
The real workhorse of Russian aviation remains the old Tu-95. Currently, Russian strategic aviation has at its disposal, according to various sources, between 45 and 60 of these aircraft. According to unofficial sources, only a few intensely used examples may be fit to fly.
It is known, however, that after the collapse of the USSR, there were no more than 30 Tu-95s on Russian territory, with production at the Kuybyshev Aviation Plant ending in February 1992. How did Russia acquire additional aircraft?
According to the Ukrainian service Defence Express, the strengthening of Russian strategic aviation occurred through an unusual theft. The objective was to acquire Kazakh Tu-95MS – a modernised version capable of carrying cruise missiles on external mounts.
The theft, according to Ukrainians, involved organising manoeuvres during which Kazakh Tu-95MS landed at a Russian airfield, where they were detained. For this purpose, the Ukrainka airfield in the Amur region, with a 3-kilometre runway, was used. In exchange, machines that Moscow was not interested in, older Tu-95s with much lesser capabilities, were sent from Russia to Kazakhstan.
The USA does not confirm the "theft"
Other sources do not confirm Ukrainian revelations. Information about the fate of strategic bombers that ended up in Kazakhstan after the collapse of the USSR was presented almost 30 years ago by the American Jamestown Foundation.
According to American sources, the strategic bombers were indeed handed over to Russia, but this was not the result of a "theft," rather an agreement whereby Kazakhstan received, in exchange, Russian Su-27 fighters.
Ukrainian Tu-95s for Russia
In addition to the Tu-95MS acquired (regardless of the method) from Kazakhstan, Russia also strengthened its strategic aviation thanks to Ukraine in the early 1990s, as revealed by an investigation completed by the Ukrainian editorial team of Radio Svoboda and the Ukrainian investigative journalism project "Schemes" at the end of 2024.
In 1999, Ukraine transferred 11 Tu-95MS bombers along with 575 missiles and 11 turboprop engines to Russia in exchange for the cancellation of part of its debts. Both the Tu-95MS and Kh-55 missiles are currently being used by Russia in attacks on Ukraine.
