The Story of Ukraine’s Heavy Bombers, From Nation’s Pride to Russian Targets

Our team visited the Poltava air base, where the last of these planes now stand as museum pieces. There, we met with pilots, who once flew these bombers, to discuss the fate of Ukraine’s strategic air fleet—and how Russia now uses it against Ukraine.

Meeting the pilots

A group of men in their 60s stands huddled on a snowy concrete square. Despite the bitter cold and wind, they are deep in discussion. Among them are employees of the Heavy Bomber Aviation Museum—Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Savchenko, a retired Tu-22M3 “Backfire” commander, and Lieutenant Colonel Pavlo Byvshev, a retired Tu-22M3 navigator. Their voices rise above the rest, united by decades of service in the Poltava-based 185th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment and countless hours of supersonic flights.

Hailing from Ukraine’s northern city of Nizhyn, Viktor spent his youth near a military airfield. Fascinated by aviation, he dreamed of becoming a pilot. That dream took flight when he enrolled in flight school in Tambov (now Russia), back in the 80s.

“I was 18 years old when I flew an airplane on my own for the first time,” Viktor recalls. “A dream alone isn’t enough, though. It’s not easy to become a pilot.”

Getting in meant grueling tests and exams. Yet, at an age when most people were earning their driver’s licenses, Viktor was piloting an L-29 training aircraft. Having graduated, he served in the 185th Aviation Regiment until August 2002.

Now, sitting in the cockpit of a Tu-22M3, Viktor demonstrates to us its layout. Twenty years ago, he piloted this multi-ton machine through the skies. Today, the cockpit is frozen, and melting snow drips through cracks in the hull.

From the Cold War to independent Ukraine

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union vied for dominance through nuclear weapons and their delivery systems—intercontinental missiles and strategic bombers. The USSR developed strategic aircraft like the Tu-95, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 to destroy America’s military power and command structure. These bombers symbolized the Soviet Union’s determination to rival and surpass the United States in the nuclear standoff.

The Tu-22M3, like all strategic bombers, was designed as a platform for nuclear strikes. Its bomb bay could carry up to 24 tons of ordnance, including 69 FAB-250 bombs or three Kh-22 missiles, both of which could be equipped with nuclear warheads. The Tu-22M3’s primary mission was to destroy enemy air strike groups, such as aircraft carriers. Each commander was issued a “secret package” containing targets to be executed in the event of war.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence, the country inherited a significant portion of its strategic aviation, including air bases and the infrastructure to maintain them. Ukraine retained 23 Tu-95 "Bear" bombers, about 60 Tu-22M3 "Backfires," and 19 of the advanced Tu-160 "White Swans."

The Tu-160 deserves special mention. This aircraft holds over 200 aviation records and is an intercontinental strategic missile carrier. Its four powerful engines, with a combined output of 100,000 horsepower, propel it to speeds of 2,300 km/h. Its variable-sweep wings allow it to “spread” for landing and “retract” for supersonic flight. Unlike the Tu-22M3, which could carry 24 tons of bombs, the Tu-160 could lift 45 tons of missiles or bombs and cover 14,000 kilometers without refueling. It was also the only strategic bomber with a toilet on board—a small but telling detail.

I asked Pavlo, the former navigator of the Tu-22M3, how he would explain to a non-military person what the Ukrainian air fleet was capable of.

“We had a combat training center in Mykolaiv,” he starts. “The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksandr Kuzmuk came for an inspection. He came into our classroom and said, ‘We have a question for the Poltava Regiment. Can you show us what your regiment is capable of?’

After two hours, Pavlo’s team had already drawn up a map and a theoretical plan of attack. “We planned the use of 20 Tu-22M3s,” said Pavlo. “The theoretical strikes were calculated to hit dams and oil refineries. We presented the expected results of the regiment's strikes. Afterward, the Defense Minister told the commission: ‘Do you understand? Now our ground forces can go and collect trophies. The war is over.’ Just one regiment was capable of such things.”

The decline

As powerful a weapon as it was, things did not go so smoothly for Ukraine's strategic aviation after independence. Inheriting strategic weaponry from the Soviet Union came with immense responsibilities—none more painful than the financial ones. Maintaining the equipment, training specialists, and ensuring a steady supply of fuel came at a significant cost. To refuel a single Tu-22M3, 54 tons of fuel were needed, which is roughly equal to the capacity of a railroad tanker. Now imagine the fuel needed for five to ten aircraft.

We asked Viktor how their work changed with the collapse of the USSR.

“This is the most painful question,” he said. “First, as I remember, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had the third nuclear potential in the world. We had so many military components: airplanes, missiles, ground forces, tank forces. Then it all started to go somewhere. We know where—sold or destroyed.”

After entering the Budapest Memorandum  and Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty  Ukraine had to dispose of its strategic air fleet. Eleven Тu-160, 20 Тu-95МС, and 60 Тu-22m3 were cut into pieces, and the precious metals used in them were taken out. The process was financed by the US as a part of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program .

At that point, Ukraine was heavily indebted to Russia for natural gas supplies. In exchange for $285 million of that debt, eight Tu-160s and three Tu-95MS bombers were transferred to Russia, instead of being destroyed. This decision was, and remains, heavily criticized, as the price of just one Tu-160 aircraft was estimated to be $250-300 million.

The aircraft that were sold to Russia are now being used to bomb Ukraine.

Full-scale war

I fell in love with this plane. I’m deeply sorry that its fate in Ukraine turned out the way it did.

Serhii Osipov

The last commander of the Ukrainian Tu-160 Regiment.

Russia launched a full-scale war on February 24, 2022, starting with a massive missile attack on Ukraine’s strategic targets. Since then, Russia’s strategic aviation has frequently been deployed to bomb Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian objects. The most frequently used are Tu-95 with Kh-101 or Kh-505 missiles and Tu-22M3 which uses Kh-22 missiles. In those planes, Viktor says, the crew always knows where the missile is aiming, so when it hits a shopping mall in Poltava’s city of Kremenchuk, the Russian crew has zero excuses.

In their investigation, journalists from the Skhemy news project discovered that at least six Tu-160 and three Tu-95M3 bombers are part of the combat composition of Russia's 22nd Heavy Bombardment Division. Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (HUR) holds this division responsible for numerous casualties and widespread destruction in Ukraine due to the criminal missile terror they have been conducting from Russian territory.

“According to the Budapest Memorandum, this war should never have started—not in 2014, and certainly not in 2022,” Viktor says, reflecting on these events. “It’s heartbreaking. Our best people are dying, and you can’t bring them back. Democracy is important, but we need action faster.”

Standing in the parking lot of the former airfield of the 185th Regiment, we looked at four giants that had once cut through the Ukrainian sky at supersonic speed. It was all that remained of Ukraine's strategic fleet.