A Tu-95 bomber has crashed in russia; one of these aircraft bombed Okhmatdyt — what is known about the aircraft
Kyiv • UNN
A Tu-95 crashed during a training flight in the Amur Region: six crew members were killed. Russia has 47 such aircraft,\r 38 of them combat-ready.
In Russia, a Tu-95 strategic bomber crashed during a scheduled training flight—the occupiers launch cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities from aircraft of this type, including during the strike on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital. UNN explains what kind of aircraft this is, how many such aircraft the occupiers have left, and why this loss is a painful blow to Russia's strategic aviation.
Details
On Tuesday, information appeared online that a military aircraft had crashed in Russia's Amur Region. It was initially reported that a Tu-95 or Il-76 aircraft had crashed. Later, a version emerged that the aircraft was a Tu-154.
The crash reportedly occurred near the village of Krasnoyarove. There were seven people on board in total. Six crew members were killed, and one person was hospitalized with injuries. Firefighters are working to extinguish the blaze. The aircraft belongs to the Ukrainka air group.
It was noted that the preliminary cause of the military aircraft's crash was a fuel explosion on board.
However, photos and videos of the burning aircraft later began to appear, indicating that it was in fact a Tu-95 that had crashed.
Tu-154
As can be seen, the Tu-154 has three engines, two of which are located in the rear section of the fuselage in engine nacelles, while the third is in the tail section of the fuselage, with an air intake in the fork of an S-shaped duct.
The photos and videos published online do not show engines that could indicate that the aircraft was a Tu-154.
The video shows the characteristic placement of the wings in the rear part of the aircraft, as well as the gunner's cockpit in the rear section of the aircraft.
Later, Russia's Ministry of Defense clarified that a Tu-95 aircraft had crashed in the Amur Region, in an uninhabited area, while performing a training flight.
What is known about the Tu-95 aircraft
The Tu-95 is a strategic bomber and missile carrier developed in the USSR in the early 1950s in response to American intercontinental aircraft.
The aircraft is known in NATO as the "Bear." Why a bear? The aircraft has four NK-12 turboprop engines with contra-rotating propellers, allowing it to travel more than 13,000 kilometers without landing and carry long-range cruise missiles; and because the engines produce sounds similar to a bear's roar, the Alliance gave the aircraft this name.
In addition, the Tu-95 is the loudest production aircraft in the world. It has been detected by U.S. hydroacoustic systems hundreds of kilometers away.
The first production Tu-95 and Tu-95M aircraft carried bombs. Specialized versions appeared later. The Tu-95K became a carrier of the Kh-20 supersonic missile. The Tu-95RTs served as a maritime reconnaissance and target-designation aircraft. The most important version for the present day was the Tu-95MS modification, which entered service in the early 1980s.
The Tu-95MS received a drum launcher inside the fuselage for six Kh-55 missiles (later Kh-555). Additional pylons can be installed under the wings. Modernized Tu-95MSM aircraft carry more advanced Kh-101 and Kh-102 missiles—missiles with a low-observable airframe and a range of more than 2,500–3,000 kilometers. The total number of missiles on a single aircraft can reach 14–18, depending on the configuration.
It was a Kh-101 missile that Russia used to strike the Okhmatdyt hospital in the capital.
Aircraft production ended in 1992. More than 500 aircraft of various versions were produced over the entire period. After the collapse of the USSR, some of the aircraft ended up in Ukraine, which later, unfortunately, began transferring them to Russia; currently, only museum exhibits remain in our country, including one such exhibit at the Heavy Bomber Aviation Museum in Poltava.
In 1999, Ukraine exchanged eight Tu-160 aircraft and three Tu-95MS aircraft to settle Russia's debt for gas. Another nine Tu-160 aircraft and 21 Tu-95MS aircraft were subsequently destroyed; one example of each of these aircraft types remains at the Long-Range Aviation Museum in Poltava.
Ukraine also had 58 Tu-22M aircraft. From 2002 to 2006, 55 of these aircraft were scrapped—16 Tu-22M2s and 36 Tu-22M3s. In addition, 423 Kh-22 air-launched cruise missiles were scrapped.
It is also worth noting that journalists from "Skhemy" established that the Kremlin is shelling Ukrainians with missiles that official Kyiv handed over to Russia 23 years ago.
It should be noted that restoring Russia’s lost fleet will be extremely difficult. Unlike the United States, which has reserve B-52s and special facilities for storing old aircraft, Moscow has no similar reserve of Tu-95s. Moreover, production of these aircraft ceased more than three decades ago.
That is why the destruction of each such aircraft matters not only from the standpoint of combat use, but also because the losses cannot be quickly compensated for.
How many Tu-95 aircraft Russia has and how many it has lost
As reported by the media, citing the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, as of the end of August, the Russian Armed Forces’ Aerospace Forces had 47 Tu-95s, of which 38 Tu-95s were combat-ready.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia may have lost between 10 and 15 Tu-95 aircraft of various modifications. Since December 2022, Engels-2 airfield has become a regular target for Ukrainian drones. The first strikes, on December 5 and 26, 2022, damaged Tu-95MS aircraft and resulted in the deaths of technicians.
In 2025, as a result of the SBU’s Spiderweb special operation, Russia lost up to 8 aircraft at the Belaya airfield in Irkutsk Oblast.
On July 17 this year, the SBU’s forces destroyed a Tu-95 military aircraft in Engels that was used for Russian missile strikes against Ukraine.
SBU destroyed a Russian Tu-95 aircraft in Engels - Zelenskyy17.07.26, 14:00 • 21287 views
On August 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strike on the Yaroslavl Oil Refinery, the Russian Tu-95MS missile-carrying aircraft in Engels, as well as responses in the Black Sea.