Massive blow for Putin as nine Russian elite helicopters destroyed
Ukraine: Russian armoured vehicle destroyed by drone
Russian forces lost nine helicopters after a Ukrainian strike on key bases as the war between the two countries continues.
Kyiv strikes also damaged an additional 15 Russian helicopters during strikes on Berdiansk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
Posting on X, the Kyiv Post reported: “During attacks on airfields in the occupied cities of Berdyansk and Luhansk, nine helicopters were destroyed — seven Ka52 and two Mi8 helicopters. Another eight Ka-52s and seven Mi-8s were damaged, as reported by the OSINT project Oryx.”
This was Ukraine’s first attack on Russian forces using American-supplied M39 missiles.
According to an analysis of commercial satellite imagery by GeoConfirmed, an open-source intelligence practitioner, the strike may have left as many as 21 helicopters out of action.
They added: “This is probably the biggest blow to the Russian air force since the beginning of the war.”
Ukrainian analysis team Frontelligence Insight also said: “While their number slightly exceeds our team’s public estimate, it’s important to note that their estimate is based on solid grounds.”
When establishing whether a helicopter has been destroyed or damaged, analysts look for satellite imagery showing evidence of scorch marks at a helicopter’s location.
The analysts also corroborate this by studying Russian military social media channels to look for evidence that Moscow’s troops have hauled away damaged helicopters.
It is for this reason that Frontelligence Insight has cast doubt over some of the claims made by Ukrainian forces.
They said: “The challenge arises from the limitations of commercially available imagery, which do not provide the resolution needed to detect hundreds of small scorch marks around helicopters in Berdyansk.
“In the case of Luhansk airport, it’s much easier since you can clearly see it from our higher-resolution imagery.”
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According to reports from The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing more of his troops into Avdiivka, a city in the Donetsk oblast, as his troops take a lot of losses in the area.
Ukraine’s defence ministry has also claimed that recent Russian assaults in Avdiivka have contributed to “a 90 percent increase in Russian casualties”.
The UK Ministry of Defence estimates that Russia has amassed “150,000-190,000 permanent casualties” since its invasion began in February 2022.
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