Russian Tu‑22M3 bomber crashes in Siberia during training flight

A photo of the wreckage of the Tu-22M3 bomber that crashed on 15 August in the Irkutsk region has surfaced online. This is a painful loss for the Russian combat air force. The Tu-22M3 are competent machines used by the Russians during massive attacks on Ukraine.

In this case, it was not the result of Ukrainian actions, but rather, the Russian plane crashed in Siberia during a training flight. In the initial communications after the crash, the Russians stated that the cause was a "technical malfunction." Unconfirmed sources indicated that it might have been a fire in the left engine.

The Russians also reported that the crash did not cause any ground damage. The aircraft crashed in an uninhabited area. The crew was said to have safely ejected, but this was corrected a few hours later: one of the pilots died, and the other three were hospitalised due to their injuries. A photo from the crash site shows that the bomber was utterly destroyed.

The Tu-22M3 measures 42 metres in length and has a wingspan of 34 metres. It is a medium-range bomber (up to about 7,000 kilometres) capable of reaching speeds up to 2,300 kilometres per hour and operating at an altitude of up to 18,000 metres. It was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Just this year, the Russians have lost several Tu-22M3 units. Despite this, they still have dozens of such machines, although their condition is unclear. The described crash may have resulted from the Russian aircraft's increasingly severe and deepening wear and tear.

The Tu-22M3 is used in massive attacks on Ukraine. Each such bomber can carry up to 24,000 kilograms of armament. They have been adapted for Kh-47M2 Kinzhal cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,000 kilometres, and Raduga Kh-22 missiles, which Ukrainians admit are challenging to defend against. The Raduga Kh-22 is a missile measuring over 11 metres, capable of carrying a warhead weighing up to 900 kilograms over a maximum distance of about 500 kilometres.