Ukraine announced large-scale losses of Russian long-range aviation

Another bomber crashed on June 15 in the Irkutsk region

Since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, Russia has lost or been damaged at least 24 Tu-22M3 long-range bombers . Thus, the Russian Aerospace Forces could lose more than 70% of combat-ready aircraft of this type. Ukrainian military analysts came to this conclusion, writes Defense Express.

The reason for the new assessments was the crash of another Tu-22M3 in the Irkutsk region on June 15.

One pilot died in the crash

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the plane was performing a scheduled training flight and crashed during landing.

The crew of four ejected, but one pilot died upon landing. According to the governor of the Irkutsk region, Igor Kobzev, the plane crashed near the village of Buret, Bokhansky district. The Russian Ministry of Defense named a technical malfunction as the preliminary cause of the disaster.

This is the third Tu-22M3 crash in the Irkutsk region since the beginning of the war. Similar incidents occurred in 2024 and 2025.

In order not to miss new texts from “Layout”, subscribe to our telegram channel

What Tu-22M3 losses does Ukraine take into account?

According to Ukrainian analysts, losses and damage to the Tu-22M3 since the beginning of the war include:

• damage to three aircraft at Dyaghilevo airfield in December 2022;
• destruction of one and damage to two more Tu-22M3 at Soltsy airbase in August 2023;
• Tu-22M3 shot down over the Stavropol Territory in April 2024;
• damage to two aircraft at Olenya airbase in the summer of 2024;
• two previous Tu-22M3 crashes in the Irkutsk region;
• the destruction of 12 aircraft during the SBU operation “Web” in June 2025;
• the current crash in the Irkutsk region.

In total, the Ukrainian side estimates the number of destroyed and damaged aircraft of this type at 24 units.

How long can Tu-22M3 remain in service?

According to The Military Balance directory, at the beginning of 2025, Russia had 55 Tu-22M3 in service. At the same time, some aircraft are in storage, under repair, or are used as a source of spare parts.

Ukrainian analysts refer to the statement of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, who in 2023 spoke of 27 serviceable Tu-22M3s and two more vehicles under repair. Based on this, they suggest that by the start of a full-scale war, Russia had approximately 33–34 combat-ready aircraft of this type.

If we consider all destroyed and severely damaged aircraft to be irreparable, then about 9–10 fully serviceable Tu-22M3s may remain in service now, Ukrainian sources believe.

There is no independent confirmation of these estimates.

In order not to miss new texts from “Layout”, subscribe to our telegram channel

Losses are considered difficult to recover

Tu-22M3 is a long-range supersonic missile carrier-bomber capable of using Kh-22 and Kh-32 cruise missiles. Aircraft of this type are regularly used by Russia to attack Ukrainian territory.

Production of the Tu-22 family was discontinued back in 1993, and there is no full-fledged replacement for these aircraft in Russia yet. Therefore, even accident losses are considered by analysts as a noticeable blow to Russian long-range aviation.

Earlier, “Verstka” reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced an attack on Su-57 and Su-34 fighters in the Chelyabinsk region. Ukraine claims that drones attacked the Shagol airfield 1,700 km from the border. There has been no independent confirmation of these reports.

Photo: Russian Air Force Tu-22M3. Alex Beltyukov / CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons

You can support “Layout” from any country in the world - it is still safe and very important. We really need your support now