Video Shows Putin Flying Nuclear Bomber

Video footage released by the Kremlin has shown Vladimir Putin in the co-pilot's seat of a nuclear bomber, in what has been described as a preelection stunt aimed at showing the Russian public his vigor.

Wearing a flight suit, Putin climbed the ladder into a Tupolev Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber at a snow-covered airfield of an aircraft-making plant in the Volga River city of Kazan on Thursday.

The Associated Press reported that the plant has been ordered to produce a modernized version of the bomber, which first flew in the 1980s. Codenamed Blackjack by NATO, the aircraft was intended during the Cold War to deliver weapons in the event of nuclear war.

The aircraft Putin flew was one of the first of the bombers equipped with new engines and avionics.

Cockpit video showed takeoff and landing, as well as shots of the pilots' seats filmed from both sides in which Putin can be seen. However, it is not clear whether he had any control over the aircraft. Outside the plane afterwards, Putin boasted of how Russia was getting new-generation equipment, and how great it was.

"As I said to the commander and as I will say to the leadership of the Russian defense ministry, it (the aircraft) should be accepted into the services of the Russian armed forces," Putin said in a clip posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Anton Gerashchenko, Ukrainian interior ministry adviser. As of Friday, it had received more than 1.7 million views.

"Russian media report that Putin (or probably one of his doubles?) has flown a new Russian Tu-160M strategic bomber aircraft," wrote Gerashchenko. He added that the Kremlin said the Russian leader did not need a preflight medical examination.

"Afterwards, Putin continued the show by driving a truck. He attempts to present himself as young and energetic before the 'elections,'" Gerashchenko posted.

Russians go to the polls starting March 15 in a ballot that will be tightly controlled. Putin is widely expected to be elected for another six-year term. It will start amid soaring tensions with the West over the war in Ukraine that marks its second anniversary on Saturday.

Sergey Mironov, a Putin ally, leads the A Just Russia social conservative and social-democratic political party. It is part of the systemic opposition that backs the Kremlin and has predicted that Putin will get 80 percent in the presidential elections, although the party has raised concerns about a low turnout.

"The fact is that many Russian citizens support Vladimir Putin, but they think, 'Why would I go? He will be elected anyway.' And they are ready to stay at home, but this is wrong," Mironov told Newsweek in a statement.

He said that, if the turnout were only 52 to 54 percent, "what will the whole world say? (That) 'only half voted, and half stayed at home—this means that half of the people doubt Vladimir Putin's policies.' In this regard, we want the turnout to be at least 75 percent."