Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kyiv destroys bomber plane on raid 500 miles past border
Ukraine’s Security Service has destroyed a Russian bomber plane nearly 500 miles past the Ukrainian border, Volodymyr Zelensky announced.
The Tu-95 strategic plane was taken out at the Engels air base in Russia’s Saratov Oblast.
The Ukrainian president said on X that “the Security Service of Ukraine destroyed a Tu-95 military aircraft in Engels that had been used for Russian missile strikes against our country”.
He added: “We are defending ourselves justly and proactively. Ukraine’s Defense Forces also struck facilities belonging to Russia’s oil industry and designated targets in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.”
It comes as the Central Intelligence Agency chief said Russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine survive no more than 20 to 30 minutes on the battlefield.
Speaking at a defence and innovation summit in Pennsylvania, the CIA director said: “What I would say is, our intelligence is consistent with some of the open-source reporting you may have seen in Ukraine. So the average life expectancy of a Russian recruit, right now, arriving on the battlefield in Ukraine, is estimated to be between 20 and 30 minutes.”
His comments came as protests erupted in Ukraine after president Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov after just six months in the role, following a dispute between the reformer and Kyiv’s top general.
