In Washington, the U.S. House of Representatives is gearing up for a crucial weekend vote on a long-stalled $61 billion package of military aid for Kyiv that could deliver much-needed weapons to Ukrainian soldiers struggling on the front lines.
In a boost for their forces, Kyiv said it had downed a Russian long-range strategic bomber for the first time in an overnight attack.
“For the first time, anti-aircraft missile units of the air force, in cooperation with the defense intelligence of Ukraine, destroyed a Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber,” Ukraine’s military said in a statement on social media.
The plane was returning to its base in Russia after having fired missiles at Ukraine earlier in the night, the main intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s defense ministry said.
Shot down
Russian officials said the plane crashed over the southern Stavropol region, but blamed it on a technical malfunction. It said at least one member of the crew had died.
“A Russian armed forces Tu-22M3 aircraft crashed in the Stavropol region while returning to its base aerodrome after performing a combat mission. The pilots ejected,” the state-run TASS news agency quoted Russia’s defense ministry as saying.
“According to preliminary data, the cause of the accident was a technical malfunction,” it added.
One of the four crew members died in the incident, Stavropol Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said in a post on Telegram, and two were taken to a local medical center.
“The search for the fourth pilot is continuing,” he added, posting photos of the burnt-out and mangled fuselage of the plane in a field.
The plane crashed in the region’s Krasnogvardeysky district, the governor said — around 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the eastern edge of the annexed Crimean peninsula.
The main intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s defense ministry said it “was shot down at a distance of about 300 kilometers from Ukraine. As a result of the hit, the bomber was able to fly to the Stavropol area, where it crashed.”
Ukraine’s air force said Friday that Russia had launched 22 missiles and 14 Iranian-designed attack drones overnight — including from the downed strategic bomber.
It said all the unmanned aerial vehicles were downed as well as 15 missiles.
Russian strikes have pummelled towns and cities across Ukraine since the beginning of Moscow’s invasion more than two years ago. A missile attack on the northern city of Chernigiv left 18 dead earlier this week.
