If third of aircraft were destroyed, it means aviation part of Russia’s nuclear triad is basically out, – aviation expert on Operation Spider's Web

Aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko, lead researcher at the State Aviation Museum stated this on Espreso TV.

“About Operation Spider’s Web — an 'unfortunate incident' happened. Suddenly, Russian strategic airfields came under attack. For as long as Russian strategic aviation has existed, it had never been hit. And then, all of a sudden, three Tu-95MS bombers at Belaya airfield are gone, most likely burned out, and four Tu-22M3 bombers, known by NATO as Backfire, are also gone, completely burned. Several more aircraft were damaged. This is confirmed by objective monitoring,” the aviation expert said.

According to him, losses at the Olenya airbase include three more destroyed Tu-95MS strategic bombers. In total, that’s six Tu-95MS bombers destroyed and one more damaged, at least from what’s been confirmed so far. These are the same bombers that carried out around 95% of missile attacks on Ukraine using Kh-101 cruise missiles.

“Even at this stage, with preliminary confirmation, at least 10% of Russia’s combat aviation has been taken out. And our officials are right, it’ll take time to confirm how many aircraft were damaged, how badly, and whether they can be repaired. But repairs will take a long time, because Russia has limited capacity when it comes to aircraft repair and production. Most of these aircraft were originally built in Kazan, where the plant currently has just five Tu-160s in line. That means there’s no capacity there to restore the Tu-95MS. In Taganrog and Dyagilevo, each plant already has three Tu-95MSs waiting under repair contracts. That’s it, the repair facilities are full. If it’s confirmed that a full third of these aircraft were destroyed, then the aviation leg of Russia’s nuclear triad is basically out of action,” Romanenko concluded.

• On June 1, Ukraine’s Security Service launched a major strike called Operation Spider’s Web, targeting Russian strategic bombers. It’s reported that 40 aircraft were hit.