No sé por qué no se incluyeron los 19 ejemplares. Algunas fuentes afirman que algunos aparatos estaban en mal estado (algo difícil de creer). Otras sugieren que había que contentar a EEUU y Rusia, por lo que se desguazaron 10 ejemplares.
Esto es lo que comenta Piotr Butowski. La sugestión de 8 ejemplares vino de Rusia. En otros sitios web se afirma que Ucrania quería intercambiar más, pero había presiones de EEUU. De los 2.600 millones de $ de ayudas asignados a la CEI, Ucrania recibió la cuarta parte.
In April 1999, immediately after NATO began its air attacks against Serbia, Russia resumed talks with Ukraine about the strategic bombers. This time they proposed buying back eight Tu-160s and three Tu-95MS models manufactured in 1991 (those in the best technical condition), as well as 575 Kh-55MS missiles. An agreement was finally reached and a contract valued at $285 million was signed. That figure was to be deducted from Ukraine's debt for natural gas. A group of Russian military experts went to Ukraine on 20 October 1999 to prepare the aircraft for the trip to Engels-2 air base. The first two (a Tu-160 and a Tu-95MS) departed Pryluky on 5 November. During the months that followed, the other seven "Blackjacks" were brought to Engels, with the last two arriving on 21 February 2001
Butowski, Piotr. "Russia's Strategic Bomber Force". Combat Aircraft 4 (6): 552–565.
Saludos.