A Ukrainian Tu-95MS bomber was reportedly listed for sale on eBay for $3 million, according to "Schemes."

Investigative journalists discovered a project directive titled "On the Approval of the List of Military Property of the Armed Forces That Can Be Alienated" in the state archive, which included, among other things, the last two Ukrainian Tu-95MS. In the summer of 2011, this project was submitted for consideration to the Cabinet of Ministers by then-Minister of Defense Mikhail Yezhel, as reported by "Schemes".

In the explanatory note, he pointed out that due to the reform and reduction of military units, the Ministry of Defense was granted permission to organize the alienation of military property, which also included MiG-29, Su-24, and Su-25 fighters, Mi-8 helicopters, Akatsiya and Gvozdika howitzers, and T-80, T-72, and T-64 tanks.

The initiative mentioned in the document did not foresee consultations with the public.

Moreover, the decision to allow the sale of the aircraft was voted on during a government meeting led by Nikolai Azarov in August 2011.

In 2013, the state enterprise "Spetstekhnoexport," subordinate to the Ministry of Defense and headed by Pavel Lebedev, sold the last two Ukrainian Tu-95MS bombers to a private firm for $250,000. In 2014, one of these aircraft was put up for sale on eBay for $3 million, but the listing was removed after it drew public attention.

In 2015, the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) initiated an investigation into the abuse of power related to the inclusion of military equipment from the bombers on the sale list. The investigation revealed that the engines from the Tu-95MS were dismantled for illegal sale and export to the Russian Federation for installation on Russian Air Force aircraft.

The owner of the engines is the company "Dnipro Business Bud." Co-owner Anna Shafranskaya stated that the company received the aircraft engines in settlement of debts from the first buyer of the planes. Law enforcement seized the engines back in 2015 and has not returned them. However, as journalists note, when asked about the possible use of the engines for Russian aircraft, Shafranskaya did not provide a direct answer.

What is known about the Tu-95 aircraft

The Tu-95 was developed in the 1950s by the Tupolev Design Bureau to strike strategic targets deep within enemy territory. The aircraft was created in response to the American Convair B-36 Peacemaker, which could reach the farthest borders of the USSR. Later, Russia produced more modern versions of this aircraft — the Tu-95MS and Tu-95MSM, as well as the Tu-160.

Until 1993, Ukraine also had 23 Tu-95 in its arsenal, but they were retired, partly as a settlement for debts related to supplied Russian gas.

The Tu-95MS can carry up to 6 X-555 missiles, while the Tu-95MSM can carry the more modern X-101 cruise missile. The range of the X-555 is 2500 km, while the X-101 has a range of 5000 km at speeds exceeding 700 km/h.

The maximum speed of the aircraft is 830 kilometers per hour with a range of 10,500 km. The aircraft can carry a combat load of 20,800 kg.

We recall that during the airstrike on August 26, the Russian Armed Forces "abnormally" used Tu-95 bombers, which launched cruise missiles from the Volgograd region and the Caspian Sea.