Ukraine has destroyed a strategic Tu-95 bomber in Russia’s Engels air base, about 800 km from the Ukrainian border, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Mr Zelenskyy said on social media on Friday, local time that the military plane was used by Russia for missile strikes on Ukraine.
“We are defending ourselves justly and proactively,” he said.
The Ukrainian forces also struck facilities belonging to Russia’s oil industry, Mr Zeleknskyy added.
“We are increasing the price Russia pays for its aggression against our country and our people,” he said.
In Ukraine’s ‘Spider’s Web’ attack on Russia last year, several Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers were damaged.
The long-range, supersonic strategic bombers have been used to launch missile strikes against Ukraine.
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Putin critic convicted, kept out of parliamentary race
Meanwhile in Russia, Boris Nadezhdin, a critic of Moscow’s military action in Ukraine and 2024 election challenger was convicted of displaying “extremist symbols” — an action that will keep him out of this year’s parliamentary race.
The charges against Mr Nadezhdin, 63, were based on a 2023 online interview in which he briefly showed a picture of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who at that time was serving a 19-year prison sentence on charges of extremism that were widely seen as politically motivated.
Mr Navalny later died in an Arctic penal colony in February 2024.
Mr Nadezhdin rejected the case against him as absurd and argued authorities were trying to keep him from campaigning in September’s parliamentary vote.
The court in Dolgoprudny, a town on Moscow’s northern outskirts where he lives, convicted him and ordered him to pay a fine of 1,000 rubles (about $19).
A week ago, Russia’s Justice Ministry named Mr Nadezhdin as a “foreign agent,” a designation that carries strong pejorative connotations and brings additional government scrutiny.
The conviction will keep Boris Nadezhdin out of the upcoming parliamnetary race. (AP: Pavel Bednyakov)
It also bars him from holding public office, but he was still able to wage his symbolic campaign for a parliament seat until Friday’s verdict.
Mr Nadezhdin complained of feeling sick during Friday’s hearing, which was interrupted to let an ambulance team check his condition.
Before the hearing, he said he was considering going abroad but was barred from leaving Russia.
In January 2024, Mr Nadezhdin collected thousands of signatures as he openly called for a halt to the fighting in Ukraine.
But he was kept off the March 2024 ballot after Russia’s Supreme Court ruled that more than 9,000 signatures submitted by his campaign were invalid — enough to disqualify him.
Mr Putin faced only token opposition in the election and easily won a fifth term.
Wires/ABC
