It must have been at least a double generator failure (or wiring-related). An escape system that doesn't work in the event of a total electrics failure? Hmm. Designers probably wouldn't have made Hero of the Soviet Union Status.

"Experts from the 13th Defense Ministry Research Institute came to that conclusion after deciphering the flight recorders," the news agency quoted a source at the investigation commission as saying.

The crew could not eject because of a total blackout aboard, the source said.

"After the generator failure, power supplies continued for sometime thanks to accumulators. But because the lights had been turned on, the power ran out fast and the catapults did not get the required voltage for ejecting," the source said.

The Tu-22M3, also known as a Backfire, was designed in the late1970s and brought into active service by the Soviet armed forces in 1983. It can carry cruise missiles, short-range missiles, or nuclear bombs.

similar accident (but not the same)