Russian warplanes used practice bombs with “To Berlin!” and “For Stalin” slogans during Baltic drills

August 14, 2015 Russia, Troubled Areas
David Cenciotti

Transport planes of the Russian Baltic Fleet used practice bombs signed “To Berlin!” and “For Stalin!” during recent drills in the Baltic Region.

At the beginning of August, the Russian Navy Baltic Fleet held an exercise at Chernyakhovsk airbase, in Kaliningrad Oblast.

Attended by aircrews from the Baltic, North, Black Sea and Pacific fleets, the drills saw live firing activity conducted by Su-24 and An-26 and Mi-24 and Ka-27: noteworthy, it was the first time the An-26 transport plane practiced in the bomber role in 20 years.

AN-26

As sometimes happens among Western air forces during real ops as well as live firing events, bombs used by the Russian planes during the exercise sported various inscriptions: interestingly, the images allegedly taken by the Russian Navy and posted on the naval news website Flot show two P-50SH bombs with the slogans “To Berlin!” and “For Stalin” similar to those used during WWII by the Soviet Red Army in its fight against Nazi Germany.

P-50SH bomb

“Neither while being stored in warehouses, nor, moreover, during any training or otherwise exercises had any inscriptions whatsoever been put on any ammunition,” said a Russian MoD source who talked to Sputnik News.

However, at least in Germany, such slogans have been taken seriously: Bild tabloid said the text on bombs show dangerous tendencies in the Russian leadership and army and that may be considered as a “bitter insight into of the Russian reality of 2015.”

AN-26 bomb

Image credit: Flot

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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8 Comments

  2. I’m really far away from being into Putin’s politic, but come on, these are just jokes from Russian airmen who are forced to use those prehistoric bombs on propeller aircrafts …
    If some US airmen would have written “for Hitler” or “for Hirohito” on Mk-81 bombs carried by C-130s, I’m pretty sure that everybody would have find it funny.

  3. Never have really understood bomb graffiti in the first place outside of the crews having a little fun. I mean, it’s not like the intended recipient is actually going to be able to read it before being hit or anything, lol.

  4. Why does anyone bother listening to anything the Russian military says? We know it’s all propaganda. Yep. Sure. Uh huh. Okay. Yup. Yup. Okay, Russia. Whatever you say, Russia. Good for you, Russia.

  5. “Andrew…. Then again NATO aircraft now operate from
    former Soviet airfields all over Europe and within former Soviet
    territory …. ”
    Yup, them Russians have a lot of nerve- seeing how they put their country so close to Nato bases.

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