Ukraine struck Russia's nuclear triad with the downing of the Tu-22M3 strategic bomber. This is what the aviation expert and former test engineer in the design bureau “Antonov” said. Konstantin Krivolap in front of FREEDOM TV.
Last week, Kiev announced that it had shot down 300 kilometers of strategic Russian bomber Tu-22M3 flying over the Stavropol region. According to the Ukrainians, the plane in question had previously attacked Ukraine and was armed with X-22 cruise missiles.
„On the one hand, it seems that from the point of view of their numbers, the destruction of one plane is not of fundamental importance. But on the other hand, it still strikes one of the parts of Russia's nuclear triad, Krivolap said.
„Because the Tu-22M3, along with the Tu-195MS and Tu-160, are part of the Russian nuclear triad. In any case, this is a blow to the triad, because the weakest point of the Russians in the triad is strategic aviation. This is a serious loss. In addition, Russia also lost pilots”, the aviation expert pointed out.
What is important in this case, he continued, is that Ukraine has the means to hit such enemy targets at a long distance. According to the most optimistic forecasts, the Russians may have less than 30 Tu-22M3 aircraft left. Moscow denies the plane was shot down by Ukraine. The version of the Russians is a technical malfunction.