British intelligence raises questions on how Russia can protect assets after £31m hypersonic jet destroyed

Moscow has claimed that they shot down two drones flying over the capital and another two unmanned ariel drone (UAVs) were intercepted over the Bryansk region of the Ukrainian border. As a result all flights over Moscow were stopped as the airspace was closed.

Ukraine blew up a Tupolev hypersonic Russian bomber, a Tu22M3 known by NATO as a “Backfire” long-range strategic bomber at an airbase in the south of St Petersburg over the weekend.

British intelligence said on Tuesday, that the recent attack on the Soltsky-2 airbase in Novgorod region of Russia confirms that some UAV strikes on Russian military targets are actually being carried out from the territory of the Russia Federation.

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The British Ministry of Defense (MoD) said, “On 19 August 2023, a Tu-22M3 BACKFIRE medium bomber of Russia’s Long Range Aviation (LRA) was highly likely destroyed at Soltsky-2 Airbase in Novgorod Oblast, 650 km away from Ukraine’s border.

“The Russian Defence Ministry said that a copter-style uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) was responsible for the attack.”

British intelligence added, that “if true, this adds weight to the assessment that some UAV attacks against Russian military targets are being launched from inside Russian territory.

“Copter UAVs are unlikely to have the range to reach Soltsky-2 from outside Russia.”

Ukrainian drone attack

A Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber destroyed

Price $40 million each

A supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic & maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau#UkraineRussiaWar #StandWithUkraine #UkraineWar #SlavaUkraini #Ukraine https://t.co/FgRBCWiqDX pic.twitter.com/Ws7SxzQsXH

— Luis (@2536luis) August 21, 2023

Russia has been frequently using Backfire long-range bombers to launch the notoriously inaccurate AS-4 Kitchen heavy anti-ship missiles against Ukraine.

Last year Russia also carried out the intense bombardment of Mariupol using unguided bombs from the Tu-22M3 hypersonic bomber which can travel at the speed of sound.

British intelligence said, “This is at least the third successful attack on LRA airfields, again raising questions about Russia’s ability to protect strategic locations deep inside the country.”

Yesterday, russians reported that a Ukrainian drone caused minor damage to a supersonic long-range strategic bomber #Tupolev Tu-22M3 (NATO: #Blackfire ). In that pic you can see the “Minor damage” 😏😯🤷. russian air base #Soltsy pic.twitter.com/7qV6Et3Lk7

— Save Ukrainian Souls (@galcpmedia) August 20, 2023

The Russian Defence Ministry said that the hypersonic bomber was “damaged” after a “copter-type UAV” attacked the airbase, but video footage actually shows it was in fact completely blown up.

In a statement the Russian Ministry said, “The UAV was detected by the airfield’s observation outpost and was hit with small-arms fire.

“One airplane was damaged; there were no casualties as a result of the terrorist act.”