Russian bomber crash: Crew ejects safely after engine fire

The crash occurred on August 15 in the Irkutsk region. According to official Russian sources, the aircraft fell in an uninhabited area. Unofficial sources, publishing recordings of the crash on Telegram, claim that the plane fell near buildings.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Tu-22M3 was conducting a scheduled training flight when an unspecified failure occurred. The aircraft hit the ground, but the entire four-person crew managed to eject.

Reports indicate that three crew members have already been located, and rescuers have made contact with the fourth crew member, who suffered a broken leg. According to unconfirmed sources, the failure may have been caused by a fire in the left engine.

This is yet another loss of a bomber of this type. The Russians have lost at least four Tu-22M3s due to combat, most recently in April 2024. The latest non-combat loss may be a result of the increasingly serious and deepening wear and tear of Russian aircraft.

The Tu-22M3 is a medium-range bomber (often incorrectly called a strategic bomber) with variable-sweep wings. It was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of the "K22M aerial missile complex".

This complex included a detection and guidance system, the Raduga Kh-22 missile, and the Tu-22M aircraft serving as the missile carrier. Its initial purpose was to combat the American fleet, primarily aircraft carriers.

Over time, the aircraft was adapted to the bomber role, and the current modernized Tu-22M3 variant is used in various missions, including during the war in Ukraine. One of these aircraft made a grim mark with a tragic attack carried out in 2022 on a crowded shopping center in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk.