Russia uses Tu-160 bombers that Ukraine gave it in the late 90s-mass media
Kyiv • UNN
Russia uses at least 6 Ukrainian Tu-160 bombers transferred in 1999 for debts. The planes were transferred in exchange for repayment of a gas debt of 2 275 million.
The Russian army uses at least 6 Ukrainian Tu-160 strategic bombers, which Ukraine handed over to Russia as part of an agreement between the two governments in 1999 in exchange for paying off the debt for Russian gas. this is stated in the investigation of the "scheme", reports UNN.
The Russian army uses Ukrainian strategic bombers, which official Kiev handed over to Moscow as part of an agreement between the two governments in 1999 in exchange for paying off the debt for Russian gas consumed
It is noted that at least six transferred Tu-160 aircraft are in combat service with the Russian army. In total, the "schemes" identified ten Ukrainian strategic aircraft transferred by Ukraine to Russia.
These are the Tu-160s, which in the Russian Federation were given new names: "Nikolay Kuznetsov" (previously it was a Ukrainian aircraft with the tail number "10"), "Vasily Senko" ("11"), "Alexander Novikov" ("12"), "Vladimir Sudets" ("15"), "Alexey Plokhov" ("16"), "Andrey Tupolev" ("18"), "Igor Sikorsky" ("22").
Journalists found the aircraft numbers in the archive agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, analyzed them using the international aviation register and compared them with the numbers of bombers that, according to gur, are used by the Russian army.
Among the aircraft transferred by the Ukrainian authorities are also Tu-95MS aircraft - Krasnoyarsk, Sevastopol, Izborsk.
Journalists have identified Russian pilots who now fly on former Ukrainian planes. In particular, one of them-Oleg Skitsky, he operated the plane, which in Ukraine had the tail number "11", and in the Russian Federation was called "Vasily Senko". Skitsky is a serviceman of the 22nd Air Division, which the Gur calls "responsible for numerous victims and destruction in Ukraine" due to the missiles they launched.
"Schemes" found in the archive an agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine headed by Valery Pustovoitenko and the government of the Russian Federation under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, signed in Yalta in 1999. According to it, Kiev handed over to Moscow eight Tu-160 heavy bombers and three Tu-95MS, as well as 575 x-55 cruise missiles. for this, Russia compensated Ukraine for the debt for Russian gas – in the amount of 2 275 million. This is a certain cost of the transferred equipment," the publication adds.
The transfer of aircraft and missiles took place without the approval of the Verkhovna Rada, and the cost of weapons was underestimated by ten times, as stated in the conclusions of the temporary investigative commission of the Verkhovna Rada to investigate information about the facts of embezzlement in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and undermining the state's defense capability in the period from 2004 to 2017.
In a comment to schemas, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma noted that even if the strategic bombers remained in service with Ukraine, it would not significantly help in defending against the Russian Federation.
"Russia has air defense systems capable of resisting x-55 class missiles, while huge in size and relatively low-speed bombers in the early days of the war would have been easy prey for Russian weapons both in the air and at airfields.
Strategic weapons could hardly help solve the strategic tasks of Ukraine, and they definitely did not fit into the Ukrainian scale. We didn't have missile testing grounds. We did not even have sufficient territorial length for the operation of these means – after all, strategic weapons require strategic space," Kuchma told the publication.
Recall
Ukrainian intelligence identified personnel of the 22nd heavy bomber aviation division of Russia involved in missile strikes on the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine.
