Governor of Russia's Stavropol Krai, Vladimir Vladimirov and the Russian propaganda media outlet Ria Novosti reported the downing, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.
At 6:57 a.m., the governor said that an aircraft had crashed in a field in the Krasnogvardeysky district. According to him, there was no damage and no casualties, and the pilots had ejected.
He later noted that the pilots were found alive and were being taken to hospital.
Ria Novosti, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, said that a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber crashed after a combat mission on its way back to its home airfield.
It noted that 3 crew members were evacuated by a search and rescue team, and the search for one pilot is ongoing. Later it became known that one of the rescued crew members died, and the search for the fourth pilot continues.
Russian media outlet Ateo Breaking reports that rescuers have found the body of the fourth pilot. Alexei Voevoda, an official representative of Albatros Aero, clarifies that the commander has allegedly died.
The Russian Defense Ministry claims that there was no ammunition on board, and the aircraft went down in a deserted area.
"There is no damage on the ground. According to preliminary data, the crash was caused by a technical malfunction," the Russian Ministry said.
The Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, confirmed that for the first time, anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence, destroyed a Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber.
For reference. The Tu-22M3 is a carrier of Kh-22 cruise missiles used by Russian forces to strike peaceful Ukrainian cities. During the attack on April 19, two such missiles were destroyed for the first time, the Air Force commander noted.
"Ukraine needs more means, more missiles, to better protect the frontline territories from Russian terrorism," emphasized Oleshchuk.
The Ukrainian Intelligence informed that the Russian Tu-22M3 aircraft was shot down at a distance of about 300 kilometers from Ukraine.
The Tu-22M3 was hit with the same weapons that had previously shot down the Russian A-50 long-range radar and control aircraft.
"As a result of the damage, the bomber was able to fly to the Stavropol area, where it crashed. It should be noted that this is the first successful destruction of a strategic bomber in the air during a combat mission in the course of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine," the intelligence noted.