Russian Air Defense Forces Hit Their Own Plane

• 25.05.2025, 11:29

The system mistook the board for a "strange drone".

On the night of May 25, Russian air defenses fired on its own warplane during a drone attack near Tver.

According to Defense Express, information began circulating on Russian social media about the likely shooting down of a Tu-160 strategic bomber-missile carrier over Russian territory. However, a video that appeared later refuted this version.

The released footage shows Russian anti-aircraft gunners firing at the plane over the city of Tver. The silhouette of the aircraft does not match the shape of the Tu-160. It is likely to be a military transport aircraft of the Tu-134 or Tu-154 type. In particular, the Evergreen Intel Twitter account indicates that it was a Tu-134AK with flight number RA-65996, which belongs to the Russian Air Force and took off from the Migalovo military airfield near Tver.

The incident coincided with a kamikaze drone attack on the region. It is likely that Russian air defense mistook its own plane for a "strange drone" and opened fire. However, as you can see from the video, it failed to hit - the aircraft avoided being hit.