A flagship Russian long-range bomber has been destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike, according to reports.
Images posted on social media and analysed by BBC Verify show a Tupolev Tu-22 on fire at Soltsy-2 airbase, south of St Petersburg.
Moscow said that a drone was hit by small-arms fire but managed to “damage” a plane. Ukraine has not commented.
The Tu-22 can travel at twice the speed of sound and has been used extensively by Russia to attack cities in Ukraine.
