Russia has moved to downplay the impact of Ukraine’s recent drone strikes against its long-range bomber fleet, insisting that damaged aircraft will be repaired, despite video and satellite evidence showing severe destruction at multiple airbases.
Following Ukraine’s unprecedented drone operation “Pavutyna,” which Kyiv says hit 41 strategic aircraft—including Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers—Russian officials have sought to reframe the scale of losses.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov claimed in an interview with TASS that “the equipment in question was not destroyed, but damaged. It will be restored.”
The comment echoed earlier statements from Russia’s Ministry of Defense, which acknowledged the attack but insisted that no irreversible losses were sustained.
However, images released by Ukrainian defense sources, backed by satellite imagery, appear to contradict these claims.
Kremlin-aligned military blogger and Russian Air Force officer Ilya Tumanov, known online as “Fighterbomber,” also sought to minimize the strike’s impact. In a statement on Telegram, he dismissed the destroyed aircraft as obsolete, saying they were “non-flying airframes from the iron row.”
Tumanov claimed that “this was as effective as striking monuments on pedestals,” adding, “our long-range and strategic aviation did not suffer critical losses.”
But the destruction of even a single Tu-95MS—a Cold War-era platform no longer in production—represents a critical blow to Russia’s shrinking strategic arsenal. The Tu-95, which has been used extensively in cruise missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, is aging, and airframes are nearing the end of their operational lifespan. Many can no longer carry full payloads, according to Ukrainian intelligence sources.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) says the coordinated strike disrupted an imminent missile attack, with drone footage showing Tu-95s loaded with Kh-101 cruise missiles just before the assault. The agency claims the operation dealt a lasting blow to Russia’s ability to conduct long-range strikes and estimates the cost of destroyed aircraft at over $7 billion.
While Moscow attempts to minimize the tactical effect, analysts suggest the long-term strategic cost of the strike will be harder to obscure.