Eight officers killed in Tu-95MS crash in Russia: three involved in strikes on Ukraine

Eight officers were killed in the crash of a Tu-95MS strategic bomber in Russia’s Amur Region. Three of them were previously implicated in missile strikes on Ukraine.

This is reported by Insider and ” Mediazona “.

The Tu-95MS crashed on September 29 during a training flight from the Ukrainka airbase . Initially, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the death of six crew members.

However, later in the village of Seryshevo, where the air base is located, a memorial to the fallen pilots was opened. It listed the names of eight servicemen. Journalists checked this data and found out that they all served in strategic aviation.

Six of the dead were members of the main crew of the Tu-95MS. Two others were probably on board as passengers or checking the crew’s work.

Among the dead were crew commander Major Andrey Lobanov, co-pilot Vladislav Moskovskikh, navigator Artur Yenokyan, navigator-operator Mikhail Kotyshev, flight engineer Sergey Monsevich, and radio operator Volodymyr Kelip.

Also on board were the deputy commander of the flight training regiment, Fedor Pavlyukov, and the commander of the Tu-95 squadron, Andriy Gerasimov.

Three of the eight dead had previously been included in the Ukrainian project “The Executioners’ Book.” There they were named as participants and organizers of missile strikes on Ukraine.

Most of the officers previously served at Engels Air Base in the Saratov Region. After the Ukrainian drone strikes, Russia began relocating strategic bombers from there to other airfields.

After the SBU’s Operation “Website”, the Ukrainka air base in the Far East became one of the main ones for Russian strategic aviation.

According to Insider, due to this redeployment, a Tu-95MS combat mission to strike Ukraine can now last about 23 hours. The planes first fly closer to Ukraine, in particular to the Engels or Olenya airfields, from where they take off for missile launches, and then return to the Far East.