Russian air defences mistakenly target their own Tu‑134 plane
The Russian air force almost shot down its own Tu-134 aircraft during a suspected drone attack near the city of Tver in Russia, reports United24 Media.
Russian air defence systems may have mistakenly targeted their aircraft during a suspected drone attack near the city of Tver. As reported on United24 Media, initial reports suggested a Tu-160 plane was the target. However, analysts later concluded it was indeed a Tu-134. In videos available on social media, anti-aircraft guns are seen firing into the sky, and the aircraft's silhouette confirms it is a Tu-134.
Russian social media was inundated with recordings and reports of drone activity in the region at the time of the incident. It seems that in the chaos, air defence units mistook the aircraft for a hostile drone or were targeting a drone flying nearby.
Russians fired at their own aircraft
According to video evidence, the aircraft was not struck and managed to evade what is termed as "friendly fire."
Contrary to earlier claims that the aircraft seen in the recording was civilian, open-source analysts, including the OSINT Evergreen Intel account on Twitter, identified it as a Tu-134AK (RA-65996), operated by the Russian Air Force. The aircraft took off from Migalovo base, a key military transport hub near Tver.
It was reported that there had been a significant drone attack directed towards the Migalovo base. This facility is located over 500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. The 196th and 8th Transport Aviation Regiments of the Russian Air Force are stationed there, with large transport aircraft such as the Il-76MD and An-124.
Tu-134 aircraft
This aircraft, originating from the 1960s, does not have military applications. It lacks features that would provide offensive capabilities. The Tu-134 cannot attack enemy units from the air and is not designed for reconnaissance missions (unlike, for example, the A-50 with its specialised radar).
The Tu-134 is equipped with two Soloviev D-30-II turbojet engines, allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 900 km/h and a range of approximately 2,000 kilometres. The aircraft has a wingspan of about 29 metres, a length of 37 metres, and a height of 9 metres and it weighs more than 29,000 kilograms.
