Ukraine says bomber downed as Russian strike leaves 9 dead

Ukraine said it shot down a Russian strategic bomber in combat for the first time since the Kremlin’s invasion began after the aircraft launched a missile strike that left at least nine people dead in the central Dnipro region.

The Tu-22M3 was downed some 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the Ukrainian border after launching missiles, Ukraine’s military intelligence, or GUR, said on its website. It was the first successful hit against this type of bomber since the start of Russia’s invasion, GUR said. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry also confirmed the strike.

The Ukrainian military’s success in taking down the plane comes as the US is expected to vote within days on long-delayed military aid, and as allies fear that Ukraine’s ability to hold the line on defense is waning as Russia’s full-scale invasion grinds through a third year.

At least one of pilots was killed, two survived, and another was missing, TASS reported, citing the local governor in Stavropol. Russia’s military hasn’t commented on the crash so far.

The downing of the jet opens a new vulnerability for President Vladimir Putin’s military, which relies on its fleet of Soviet-era bombers as the main tool in its missile campaign against neighboring Ukraine. The supersonic aircraft, designed during the Cold War, is able to launch strikes from deep within Russian territory, and so far remained effectively untouchable for Ukraine’s air defenses.

Kyiv has been secretive about its capacity to down targets inside Russia. The jet was destroyed using the same type of weapon previously used to down an A-50 radio surveillance airplane, GUR said without elaborating. Ukraine reported downing an A-50 near the Sea of Azov in January and another in February over Russia.

Deadly Barrage

At least nine civilians were killed and more than 20 injured in the overnight strike on the central city of Dnipro and the surrounding region. Kremlin forces unleashed a barrage of 22 missiles and 14 explosive-laden drones, straining Ukraine’s dwindling air defenses. Ukraine’s air defence downed 15 of the 22 missiles and all drones.

The railroad operator JSC Ukraine Railways said its infrastructure in the region was damaged, leading to train delays and a temporary closure of the central train station in Dnipro. The city, whose pre-war population was almost 1 million people, is Ukraine’s main hub closest to the battlefield.

Apart from casualties, the attack set a high-rise apartment block in Dnipro on fire and damaged at least three dozen residential homes in the region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who’s visiting troops in Donetsk region, reiterated his call for Ukraine’s allies to urgently provide more air defense systems, saying in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that they “should not be stored in warehouses but deployed in real cities and communities facing terror.”

The Dnipro area strike follows a similar attack on the northern city of Chernihiv on Wednesday in which 18 people were killed and 78 wounded.

Billions of dollars in long-stalled US military aid to Ukraine is is finally on track to pass Congress, with votes expected on Saturday in the Republican-led House of Representatives.

The US assistance, held up by partisan bickering, could be approved at a time some of Ukraine’s staunchest allies fear Kyiv may not be able to defend itself much longer against empowered and better-armed Russian forces.

“There is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024 or at least put Putin in a position where he could essentially dictate the terms of a political settlement,” US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said in at a military forum this week.