Air war over Ukraine
Another Russian Black Month
Text: Miro Barič
The period covered in this part of the series (December 1 to December 31) can easily be described as yet another black month for Russian aviation. During Ukrainian drone attacks, acts of sabotage, and also due to accidents, it lost at least 10 aircraft, and air personnel also suffered casualties. Unfortunately, Ukraine cannot take much joy in this. It too failed to avoid losses. Although significantly smaller, they are very painful for a defending country.
Footage of the first successful attack of the month was released by the Ukrainian military intelligence service GUR on Thursday, December 4, although it may have occurred earlier. The video comes from the camera of an FPV drone that attacked a Russian naval aviation MiG-29K at the Kacha airbase in Crimea during the night. The fighter jet had its cockpit canopy open, indicating that it was an operational aircraft undergoing maintenance or flight preparation. According to the video, the drone struck the aircraft in the area of the lower front part of the engine nacelles. Later, a satellite image of the Kacha base was also released, and at the spot where this MiG-29K had previously stood, a clearly visible burn mark could be seen.
Just one day later, on Friday, December 5, another video appeared, this time showing a Ukrainian FPV drone attack on a Su-24M bomber at the Saky airbase in Crimea. This was again an operational aircraft, as evidenced by a ladder positioned at the cockpit and camouflage netting used to conceal it. Despite these concealment measures, the Su-24M was hit from the side in the fuselage.
On Thursday, December 11, another blow followed. At the Kacha base in Crimea, a drone struck an Antonov An-26KPA from the 318th Mixed Aviation Regiment with the tail number “Blue 54” and registration RF-46873. The aircraft was standing on the runway with its engines running, meaning that a crew was on board – not only pilots, but also operators of special equipment. The An-26KPA version (Kontrol'no-Poverochnaya Apparatura) is used to test and calibrate radio-navigation systems at airfields. In its cargo cabin it carries Standart KPA-ES-1 equipment and operator workstations. Russian sources reported dead and wounded after the destruction of this aircraft.
Next, the Belbek airbase, also in Crimea, came into the sights of Ukrainian drone operators. First, on Thursday, December 18, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) released footage of an attack on a MiG-31. The aircraft had both cockpit canopies open and a tow bar attached to the front landing gear, clearly indicating that it was operational. Then, on Sunday, December 20, the SBU released images of an attack on two Su-27 fighters, also at Belbek airfield. In addition to the aircraft, Ukrainian drones struck several radars and a Pantsir-S2 air defense system.
An older image released by the Russian Ministry of Defense shows Su-30SM “Red 12.” This was most likely the aircraft that became the target of an arson attack at the Lipetsk base during the night of December 20–21.
A footage from a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian naval aviation MiG-29K at the Kacha base in Crimea.
A Russian Su-24M hit at the Saky base in Crimea.
An-26KPA “Blue 54” struck by a Ukrainian drone at the Kacha base.
Attack on a MiG-31 at the Belbek base.
Images from the attack on two Su-27 fighters at the Belbek base.
Hunt for a Submarine
Footage from the last successful Ukrainian drone attack against Russian aviation appeared on Tuesday, December 23, although it had occurred much earlier. In this case, the reason for the delayed publication was secrecy. The target was an Ilyushin Il-38N aircraft at the Yeisk airbase, and the strike was part of a much more complex operation.
The Il-38N is an upgraded version of the Russian maritime patrol aircraft. It can monitor objects on the surface within a radius of 320 km and can simultaneously track 32 targets on the surface and underwater. However, the Russian Navy received only a few of these modernized aircraft (eight are reported). Only one operated in the Black Sea region. Since the SBU was preparing an attack on the port of Novorossiysk and the Il-38N could have detected it in advance, this aircraft had to be disabled first. The attack on Novorossiysk took place on Monday, December 15, so the Il-38N must have been hit earlier. The operation was carried out by the 13th Main Counterintelligence Directorate of the SBU. They used a drone equipped with a warhead from an anti-aircraft missile. It contained 2,000 fragments, which were fired downward as the drone flew over the Il-38N. The aircraft was not destroyed, but the shrapnel seriously damaged the fuselage and especially the antenna on its upper forward section. As a result, the aircraft lost its ability to perform patrol duties.
The attack on the Il-38N maritime patrol aircraft in Yeisk enabled the subsequent attack on the port of Novorossiysk.
This then allowed the Ukrainians to attack Novorossiysk, where the Russian Black Sea Fleet had withdrawn. An underwater naval drone of the Sea Baby type penetrated the inner harbor basin and subsequently exploded at the pier just behind a moored submarine. The Ukrainians hacked into the port’s security cameras, enabling them to monitor and record the attack. The submarine, whose name was not disclosed, was not destroyed, but the powerful explosion apparently damaged its rudders and propulsion system. The Russians later released a video claiming to show that the submarine was undamaged, but the rear section was missing from the footage. And most importantly, by the end of January – a month and a half after the attack – the vessel had not moved from its position.
The explosion in the port of Novorossiysk was captured by Ukrainians via hacked security cameras.
Bizarre Accidents
During the period under review, Russian aviation also suffered significant losses due to acts of sabotage and accidents. The first extraordinary incident occurred on Sunday, December 7, in an unspecified bomber regiment. A Su-34 was preparing for a combat mission in support of Russian infantry (probably carrying guided bombs). The aircraft was still inside its shelter, but the crew was already in the cockpit when the ejection system malfunctioned. It activated unexpectedly and fired both airmen out of the aircraft. They struck their heads on the ceiling of the reinforced shelter and did not survive. The aircraft was damaged in the incident. The pilot was 27 years old and the navigator 40. The older of the two was identified as Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Korkin, a veteran of the Russian campaign in Syria. All of this information comes from Russian sources, so it is certainly not Ukrainian propaganda.
Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Korkin was one of the two Russian airmen who died on December 7, when the ejection system fired them out of a Su-34 bomber inside a shelter during preparations for a combat sortie.
Just two days later, on Tuesday, December 9, another serious accident occurred. Near the village of Ivankovo in the Ivanovo region, 300 km northeast of Moscow, a four-engine Antonov An-22 transport aircraft with registration RF-08832 and the name Vasiliy Semenenko broke apart in flight. It belonged to the 8th Military Transport Aviation Regiment and, according to some sources, was undergoing a test flight after a major overhaul. Its end was captured on video, which shows the rear section of the fuselage breaking off just behind the wings, after which the aircraft crashed into the Uvodskoye reservoir. All eight people on board were killed. They were Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Shmakov, Captain Roman Korotkov, Senior Warrant Officers Igor Ishkhanov and Alexei Dorofeyev, and further Dmitry Yatsenko, Kiril Vakulenko, Igor Belyakov and Alexei Tyksheyev without specified ranks.
The final moments of the An-22, which broke apart mid-air on December 9. Eight Russian airmen lost their lives.
Two more losses were caused by saboteurs on the night of Saturday, December 20 through Sunday, December 21, when they set fire to two Su-30SM fighters at the Lipetsk airbase. One of them carried tail number “Red 82” and registration RF-81740, and the other tail number “Red 12” and probably registration RF-95838. The saboteurs ignited fires in the engine intakes. The final result of the attack is not known, but at the very least both aircraft were damaged.
Low-quality images documenting the arson attack on a pair of Russian Su-30SM fighters at the Lipetsk base.
Ukrainian Losses
Ukraine suffered four known losses during the period under review. Two of them were particularly serious, because a total of five Ukrainian pilots were killed.
On Monday, December 8, a Su-27 fighter crashed during a combat mission in eastern Ukraine. It is possible that it was shot down by a Russian missile. Lieutenant Colonel Yevhen Ivanov, who was piloting it, was killed. News of his death was reported by the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade, of which he was a member.
During a combat mission on Wednesday, December 17, a Ukrainian Army Aviation Mi-24 helicopter was also lost. The aircraft with tail number 292 belonged to the 12th Army Aviation Brigade. Four airmen were on board; one of them was identified as Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Shemet. The Mi-24 has cockpit space for two crew members, so the remaining two must have been in the cabin in the fuselage. Their task was most likely to operate weapons installed in the side windows. The helicopter was on a mission against Russian drones, and machine guns in the side windows could increase its chances of shooting down as many unmanned vehicles as possible. However, it collided with one drone and subsequently crashed near the village of Kovray Druhyi in the Cherkasy region. No one on board survived the crash.
Details of this incident are not known. During the period under review, however, the number of cases in which Russian drones attempted to defend themselves against being shot down increased. First, cameras began to appear on Shahed/Geran drones. These allowed the drones to detect when a Ukrainian helicopter or aircraft was approaching. Thanks to the cameras, they could not only evade, but there were also cases in which a Russian drone attempted to ram a Ukrainian aircraft. Whether this also happened in the case of the Mi-24 crash is not known.
Shahed/Geran drones, however, are also trying to defend themselves using missiles. During the monitored period, a drone carrying an R-60 missile was shot down. These short-range air-to-air missiles have not had much use in the war in Ukraine. Enemy aircraft simply do not get close enough to each other to deploy them. The Ukrainians therefore began to use them against drones, including in a surface-to-air role. The Russians have now started using R-60 missiles to defend their drones. Later, these missiles also appeared on a new version of the Shahed/Geran drone equipped with a jet engine. As can be seen, Russia is constantly trying to improve its arsenal, which it uses primarily to attack civilian targets. During the winter period, these are mainly elements of energy infrastructure, whose destruction deprives the civilian population of electricity and heating.
The last confirmed Ukrainian losses were published on Monday, December 29, in a Russian drone video. Although “confirmed” is a relative term… The Russians were clearly trying to imitate the successful Ukrainian attacks on their airbases. They attacked a forward base near Zachepylivka in the Poltava region and the international airport in Mykolaiv. At the first location they hit a Mi-24 helicopter, and at the second a transport aircraft Antonov An-26. According to some sources, however, the helicopter that was hit was only a decoy (which cannot be verified). What can be verified, however, is that the An-26 has not moved from its position since February 2022, and it was therefore certainly a decommissioned aircraft.
Lieutenant Colonel Yevhen Ivanov was killed on December 8 when a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter was shot down.
Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Shemet was one of the four Ukrainian airmen who died on December 17 in a Mi-24 helicopter crash.
Wreckage of a downed Russian Geran drone that had been armed with an R-60 missile.