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Russian President Vladimir Putin flew a nuclear-capable strategic bomber on Thursday in what was likely an attempt to showcase Russia's nuclear capabilities in defiance of the West.
Moscow said Putin took a short flight in a modernized Tu-160M bomber codenamed “Blackjacks” by NATO.
State media showed Putin, 71, taking off in the giant plane from a runway at the factory in Kazan that makes the supersonic plane.
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The plane landed less than an hour later, Russian news agency TASS reported. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Moscow did not provide any information about its flight route, which is considered a military secret.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov in Kazan, Russia. (Sputnik/Sergei Bobylev via Portal)
The giant swing-wing aircraft is a modernized version of a Cold War-era bomber that belonged to the former Soviet Union. According to Portal, although it was not used during the conflict, it was said to have been used to transport weapons over long distances.
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The Tu-160M can carry 12 cruise missiles or 12 short-range nuclear missiles and can fly about 7,500 miles without needing to refuel. It only has four crew members.
Russia warns Britain that troop buildup in Ukraine would be a “declaration of war.”
In 2005, the Russian president flew in a different version of the aircraft.
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Strategic missile carriers Tu-160M at the Kazan Aviation Factory in Kazan, Russia. (Sputnik/Kristina Kormilitsyna/Kremlin via Portal)
In 2018, Russia signed a contract to purchase ten modernized Tu-160M nuclear bombers. They are scheduled to be delivered to the Russian Air Force by 2027.
Each bomber cost about $163 million.
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President Vladimir Putin visited the aviation factory in Kazan, Russia in 2018. (Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via Portal)
The flight comes just days after opposition politician Alexei Navalny was found dead in his prison cell and Putin seeks re-election in Russia's presidential race next month. He is expected to easily win another six-year term.
This also comes at a time when the Russian military continues to occupy territory in Ukraine as the war approaches its two-year milestone. The war has further worsened already strained relations between the U.S. and Russia, as Washington has accused the Kremlin of cyberattacks and meddling in its elections through disinformation campaigns on social media.
Portal contributed to this report.