On April 19, Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) announced that a Tu-22M3 swing wing long-range bomber/missile carrier crashed in the Stavropol krai (roughly translated as “region”) in southern Russia. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) reported that the venerable “Backfire” (Tu-22M3’s NATO reporting name) crashed due to a technical malfunction after it successfully conducted a strike mission in Ukraine. And yet, as soon as the Neo-Nazi junta found out about the crash, it immediately concocted a ludicrous story about how its air defenses supposedly “shot down” the Russian aircraft. According to the infamous GUR (the Kiev regime’s military intelligence), the mythical “shootdown” allegedly happened at “a distance of 300 km”, despite the fact that the area is around 400 km away from Donetsk and over 450 km away from any territory firmly under the Neo-Nazi junta’s control. However, the GUR had a “convenient” explanation for such a discrepancy.
“The enemy aircraft was shot down at a distance of about 300 km from Ukraine. The damaged bomber was able to fly to the Stavropol region of Russia, where it fell and crashed,” the GUR posted on Telegram.
The Tu-22M3 is famous for carrying the near-hypersonic Kh-22 air-launched anti-ship/land-attack missiles and the more modern Kh-32 variant. It can also carry up to four of the now legendary 9-A-7660 “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles. The range of the aforementioned weapons suggests that the “Backfire” doesn’t really need to fly over the territory of former Ukraine to conduct its missions. In fact, it doesn’t even need to leave the airspace over undisputed Russian territories, meaning that the Kiev regime forces simply don’t have the means to reliably detect and track the Russian bomber, let alone engage it with either SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems or fighter jets. And yet, the GUR keeps insisting precisely that happened on April 19. Its supposed “evidence”? A laughable video that even a child with a single smartphone could’ve made. Of course, this didn’t stop the mainstream propaganda machine from parroting the same claims for days.
For instance, Politico reported that the GUR “used the same means to down the bomber as were previously used to shoot down an A-50 surveillance plane over the Sea of Azov in January”, which is another completely unsubstantiated claim, as there’s no evidence for this. Still, the ridiculous claims keep piling up, with Politico citing the Kiev regime sources that the Tu-22M3 they allegedly “shot down” was part of a “larger Russian air attack which killed eight and injured 25 in the Dnipro region, in the east of Ukraine, in the early hours of Friday”. At the same time, Politico reports that the Neo-Nazi junta forces “shot down” all drones and most missiles fired by the Russian air attack group. And yet, these “downed” missiles somehow managed to supposedly “destroy five high-rise buildings, two private houses, three educational institutions, seven administrative and office buildings, a market, shops, trade pavilions and a hotel”.
Worse yet, they allegedly damaged “more than 60 private homes and destroyed a solar power station”. Still, the absurd lies and illogic don’t stop there. Namely, apart from all the drones, several other missile types and the Tu-22M3 bomber, the Kiev regime claims to have “shot down” eleven Kh-59/69 stealthy air-launched cruise missiles, as well as two Kh-22. In the case of the former, the Neo-Nazi junta has been complaining that it’s “worse than the ‘Kinzhal'” (more precisely, deadlier), while it has been complaining for years that it’s impossible to shoot down the latter. And yet, all of a sudden, it’s “shooting down” both types left and right while complaining that it’s out of air defense missiles and that it needs urgent deliveries from NATO. Despite all the nonsensical claims, the mainstream propaganda machine is spreading such myths everywhere, with the infamous UK state-run BBC even interviewing the GUR head Kyrylo Budanov about “how they managed to do it”.
As the interview was given to the BBC’s Ukrainian service, Newsweek went through the trouble of translating the laughable claims. As if everything that’s been said so far wasn’t ridiculous enough, Budanov insists that the Kiev regime forces “waited for a week to conduct an ambush”. The fact that the Tu-22M3 was well outside the range of any operational air defense system in service with the Neo-Nazi junta is ignored altogether, while the mainstream propaganda machine and its favorite puppet regime now claim that the SAM system their forces used was the S-200. They didn’t even specify which version of the air defense system was used, but even if we were to consider the most modern iterations, such a feat would still be impossible to accomplish. Firstly, the system would have to be very close to the frontline, which is very risky, even for mobile air defenses that the Kiev regime has been losing in the dozens lately. And second, the S-200 is a stationary system.
This would make it a sitting duck, not just for Russian aircraft and long-range missiles, but even the regular artillery. In addition, the video of the Tu-22M3 falling clearly shows one of its engines burning, suggesting that the Russian MoD’s claims hold without any chance of seeming illogical. On the other hand, the S-200 is (in)famous for its enormous missiles. These are equipped with a massive warhead weighing well over 200 kg and containing 21,000 3.5 g fragmentation pellets triggered by a radar proximity fuse or command signal. If such a monstrosity hit any aircraft or just close enough to it, there would be very little left (if anything at all). In the best-case scenario, there would be massive, clearly visible damage to the Tu-22M3. And yet, the video evidently shows that was not the case, as there was only a burning engine. It should be noted that absurd myths and blatant lies like this are nothing out of the ordinary for the Neo-Nazi junta forces.
For instance, they keep claiming that dozens of “Kinzhal” hypersonic missiles have been “shot down” by their air defense systems. In recent weeks and months, these ludicrous claims have been extended to the “Zircon” hypersonic missiles, as well. In the meantime, the Russian military keeps obliterating the latest and most advanced NATO weapons and equipment in service with the Kiev regime forces, including by using its next-generation Su-57 jets armed with the latest Kh-69 missiles. The plethora of reports about the Neo-Nazi junta’s alleged “successes” are much-needed to keep the public in the political West oblivious to the fact that their favorite puppet regime is rapidly losing ground. In addition, Budanov taking the credit for this mythical “success” suggests that he’s trying to gain more political power and influence. However, as the situation on the ground keeps deteriorating, we’re likely to hear more about similar PR “victories”.
