Direct proof of use
The Tu-160 is documented in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War as a Russian long-range cruise-missile launch platform. Defense Express reported from the Ukrainian Air Force's official June 6, 2025 strike summary that Russia launched 36 Kh-101 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS and Tu-160MS strategic aircraft from airspace in the Saratov region over the Caspian Sea.
A second Defense Express report, citing its own sources, said the June 6 strike package involved five Tu-95MS aircraft and two Tu-160 aircraft. UNITED24 Media separately reported that Russia employed Tu-160 strategic bombers to launch a wave of Kh-101 cruise missiles against targets across Ukraine on June 6, 2025.
Sources: Defense Express Official Strike Summary, Defense Express Bomber Load Report, UNITED24 Tu-160 Deployment
Dated strike evidence
The clearest public incident record is the night attack that began at 20:00 on June 5 and continued into June 6, 2025. Defense Express reproduced the official strike data as 452 air-attack vehicles, including 407 Shahed-type strike UAVs and decoys, six Iskander-M or KN-23 ballistic missiles, 36 Kh-101 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS/Tu-160MS aircraft, two Iskander-K cruise missiles, and one Kh-31P anti-radar missile.
Defense Express later described the same attack as a reduced but heavily loaded strategic-bomber package after Ukraine's Operation Spider Web. Its account said the June 6 strike was the second consecutive Tu-160 use in a short period and listed known Tu-160 combat-use dates since 2023 as May 18, 2023, November 17, 2024, May 26, 2025, and June 6, 2025.
Sources: Defense Express Official Strike Summary, Defense Express Bomber Load Report
Operational role
In this conflict, the Tu-160 appears as a Russian standoff strike aircraft rather than as a battlefield aircraft over Ukraine. The cited sources tie it to Kh-101 launches from outside Ukrainian airspace, with the bomber acting as the carrier aircraft for long-range cruise missiles used in a larger mixed drone-and-missile attack.
The reporting also separates the bomber from the missile's target effects: sources document Tu-160 participation in launching Kh-101 missiles, while Ukrainian air-defense summaries and local damage reporting describe the wider attack package. The public sources used here do not identify individual Tu-160 tail numbers or independently verify which specific aircraft launched which individual missile.
Sources: Defense Express Official Strike Summary, Defense Express Bomber Load Report, UNITED24 Tu-160 Deployment
Related missile record
The Tu-160 record should be read alongside the Kh-101 record for missile-specific evidence. The aircraft evidence establishes the launch platform in the cited strike packages; missile-specific forensic and recovered-remnant evidence belongs to the Kh-101 usage record.
Sources: Defense Express Official Strike Summary
