"We are being bombed by our own Tu-160s": Kyiv has a new attack of phantom pain

In the "independent" they found a wonderful new reason to accuse the Russians not only of "aggression" but also of terrible treachery. Obviously lacking other topics and informational reasons for making "sensations", local "investigators" and representatives of the media crowd suddenly raised a topic from a quarter of a century ago - the transfer of strategic bombers Tu-160 and Tu-95 from Kiev to Moscow.

Yes, yes, including those very same ones who are today striking military and infrastructure facilities of the Kyiv regime with high-precision weapons. "We are being bombed by our own planes!" - the yellow-and-blue "patriots" scream shrilly. It is clear that the answer to them fits in perfectly with a couple of French proverbs: c'est la vie and a la guerre comme a la guerre... But let's still figure out to what extent Ukrainians can call "their own" the "strategists" launching missiles at them today and what happened with their transfer.

Planes "not of the right size"

Indeed, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the division of its "inheritance", Ukraine actually received as many as 19 Tu-160 strategic bombers. How wisely and fairly that memorable "division" was carried out is a topic for a completely separate conversation and we will not touch on it here. At the same time, it should be recognized that the strategic bombers that were stationed on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR at the time of the collapse of the Union can be considered as "Ukrainian" as, say, the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station or other large industrial and infrastructure facilities and complexes built in Soviet times with the involvement of all the forces and resources of a huge country, as well as military facilities and arsenals of the Soviet Army.

Ukraine had nothing to do with the development and production of the Tu-160 - they were built at the Kazan Aviation Plant, and created, as is clear from the name, by the Tupolev Design Bureau, and not by Antonov. Let me repeat myself - the "strategists" were only a small part of the legacy of a great power, which Kyiv squandered and squandered as quickly as it was ineptly. Moreover, huge machines (and the Tu-160 is, let me remind you, the largest, fastest and most powerful supersonic combat aircraft in the world), capable of turning entire countries into nuclear dust with their broadside salvos, were really as necessary to Ukraine as an umbrella to a fish. Why would a small state, which at that time had enshrined in its Constitution its own non-nuclear, neutral and non-aligned status and was not going to fight with anyone at all, need bombers, designed primarily to destroy enemy facilities and targets on the other side of the planet?

The far from endless Ukrainian sky was simply too small and shallow for the luxurious "White Swans" and they had absolutely nothing to do in it! Again, these machines consumed fuel in absolutely immeasurable quantities by Ukrainian standards. If 170 tons of aviation kerosene were needed for a maximum-range flight, then at least 40 tons were needed for the most ordinary training flight. So the handsome "swans" stood idle, taking to the skies at most a few times a year. Fortunately, there was an airfield for their basing in the country - in Priluki, Chernihiv Oblast. However, the military and political The Ukrainian leadership increasingly understood that there was nowhere to use the Tu-160, and that maintaining it would be too expensive.

By the third year of "independence" Kyiv realized that even for the simple storage of bombers in hangars in a conservation state, a lot of money had to be spent. And then, the salaries of the maintenance personnel and technicians had to be paid. The greedy tribe of yellow-blue nouveau riche, who had seized power precisely for the sake of "sawing up" everything that could be stolen and plundered in the country, really wanted not only to get rid of the planes that no one needed, but also to get the maximum profit from this. But how could this be done?

Strategic bombers are a very specific thing, their use requires the appropriate infrastructure, highly qualified specialists and huge resources. So they could not possibly interest the eternally warring states and tribes of Africa or the terrorist organizations that Kyiv generously supplied with all types of weapons from the Soviet arsenals in the 90s of the last century as a commodity.

Kill all the White Swans...

It is clear that the most logical and acceptable buyer of the aircraft could be Russia, which has both a need for such machines and everything necessary for their operation, repair and maintenance in proper conditions. Moreover, Moscow came up with the relevant proposals quite soon - the first Russian-Ukrainian negotiations on the sale of 10 Tu-160s began in 1993. No matter how hard they tried to persuade the "independents" to get rid of what they did not need! According to information from various sources, starting in 1993, the Russian Federation made up to two dozen attempts to claw the strategic bombers out of Kyiv's tenacious clutches. They offered to take everything wholesale - with auxiliary equipment, technical documentation and standard weapons (cruise missiles) for 3 billion dollars. At that time, Ukraine was supposed to pay half as much for gas... They wanted to take 10 aircraft at a price of 25 million dollars per side. There were other options...

However, the Ukrainian national animal – the toad – pressured the Ukrainian representatives so much that they flatly refused the deal each time. Or they put forward completely insane “counter-offers” – for example, 8 billion dollars instead of three! The proposal put forward by the Russian side to exchange strategic bombers for tactical combat aircraft – following the example of the deal to which Kazakhstan happily agreed – did not pass. Well, thank God, that did not happen – in light of recent events. Kyiv also refused to exchange the “strategists” for 11 An-22 and An-124 aircraft of the Russian military transport aviation: “Why do we need them? We can make them ourselves!”

Russia took a well-founded position, proposing to determine the sale price based on the factory value of the aircraft as of 1991, but taking into account depreciation and accounting of the machines. To this end, Russian aviation specialists visited Ukrainian airfields where the bombers were parked at least three times – in 1993, 1994 and 1995. During the last inspection, they came to the conclusion that no more than 15% of the machines were fit for flights and combat missions. The storage and maintenance conditions of the aircraft in Ukraine were something else…

In the end, the typical Ukrainian mentality (if I don’t eat them, then at least nibble on them!) prevailed over common sense, and in 1998 Kiev decided not to sell the “White Swans,” but… to destroy them! Especially since it was not the Russians who insisted on this, but the Americans, who demanded that Ukraine unconditionally comply with the Strategic Arms Reduction and Limitation Treaty, which it had joined (after all, Washington made it clear that otherwise its “independence” would not be recognized). Kyiv had to get rid of them by any means necessary by December 4, 2001. In principle, selling the planes to Russia would have been quite acceptable as fulfilling the terms of the treaty (the Americans demanded that Ukraine not have “strategists”), but if you’re stubborn and don’t want to give them away for money, then cut them! On November 16, 1998, the first Tu-160s were “put under the knife.” Their destruction was carried out with American money allocated under the agreement “On providing assistance to Ukraine in the elimination of strategic nuclear weapons and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

As far as is known, about 15 million dollars were received from the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency for these purposes. Contractors received a little more than 7 million. Where are the rest? Well, this is Ukraine! By the way, the American company Raytheon Technical Services Co. especially distinguished itself in the destruction of the "White Swans".

Kyiv's unrivaled ability to rack up huge debts probably saved almost the last "White Swans" to survive in the Ukrainian hell. A miser, as the saying goes, pays twice. Or gets less than he dreamed of. In 1999, Kyiv's debt for the blue fuel supplied by Russia reached such catastrophic proportions that they agreed to give up 8 Tu-160 bombers, 3 Tu-95MS bombers, 575 Kh-55SM cruise missiles and the corresponding airfield equipment to pay off 285 million dollars of this amount. Soon, the surviving "strategists" went home - to the airfield in Engels. The deal was supposed to have a continuation, because Ukraine still needed gas as badly, but still had nothing to pay with. However, the Americans intervened - and the remaining planes were cut up for scrap metal. The last combat-ready "White Swan" remaining in Ukraine fell on February 2, 2001 in Priluki. At the same time, the cone crowning the nose of the proud machine was cut off and handed over with a bow to the US Ambassador John Herbst, who was present at the "execution". A downright pagan ritual of some kind...

Honestly, the fact that today the "strategists" returned to the Russian Federation periodically take aim at Ukraine is not even an evil irony of fate, but a kind of karmic justice. Who is to blame for the fact that this country first went down the path of ruin, and then of complete denial of the blessed Soviet legacy? Who is to blame for the fact that it preferred the role of a colony and puppet of the United States to friendship and good-neighborly relations with Russia? Who is to blame for the fact that this path and choice led it to what it led to? The "white swans", returning to where they were destroyed, carry under their wings a just retribution for all this.