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Aerial War in Ukraine

A damaged Russian Mi-24VM helicopter with the registration RF-13029 and bort number "red 53" is being loaded onto a trailer. The photograph surfaced during the monitored period, but there are no known details about the incident.

When Losses Are Confirmed Retroactively by Courts...

 

TEXT: Miro Barič

Another year has begun. In this continuation of the series, we will look at events that took place from January 1, 2025, to January 31, 2025. While nothing significant happened in the air, the political scene was on the verge of an earthquake.

Russia continued its offensive in the Donbas, making progress at the cost of heavy losses. According to Estonian military intelligence, in January 2025, the Russian army paid for every square kilometer of captured Ukrainian territory with the lives of 100 soldiers. On the most critical front near Pokrovsk, Russian forces became exhausted, and their advance stalled. Ukrainians even began launching localized counterattacks.

A similar situation unfolded in Russia’s Kursk region, where, despite Putin’s promises, Russian forces struggled to expel Ukrainians who had unexpectedly occupied part of Russian territory last year. Ukraine is likely holding this land as a bargaining chip for upcoming negotiations, which have gained momentum since U.S. President Trump took office again in January. However, at the time of writing, it appears that Trump leans more towards Putin, posing a risk that Ukraine may be abandoned. This serves as a wake-up call for Europe, which still stands behind Kyiv.

The biggest challenge for the Ukrainian Armed Forces appears to be a shortage of soldiers on the front lines. Poor command decisions contributed to this, as new brigades were formed with insufficient training and low morale instead of reinforcing experienced units. Another controversial decision was the attempt to rotate frontline units by deploying specialists—such as MiG-29 aircraft technicians and mobile anti-aircraft teams, which had been highly effective in defending against Russian Shahed drones.

The aerial campaign saw little change. After Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities continued through Christmas, nightly air raids persisted, mainly using Shahed drones, with occasional missile strikes. Most attacks targeted civilian energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Kremlin cynically continued to claim it was not terrorizing civilians and was only striking military targets.

Ukraine also intensified its drone campaign against Russian strategic targets. Initially alternating between airfields, ammunition depots, and other facilities, Ukraine refocused on Russian oil infrastructure—refineries and fuel depots—during this period. As expected, Moscow officially denied any damage, insisting that the massive fires observed were merely caused by "falling debris from downed drones."

Photos of the wreckage removal of a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter. It is possible that this relates to an incident that occurred on January 16.

 

Only One Loss

During the observed period, there was only one confirmed aerial equipment loss on the Russian side. On Wednesday, January 1, a Mi-28NM helicopter was destroyed under unknown circumstances in the Kamensky district of the Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine’s Luhansk region. The crew—Captain Danila Kuznetsov and Lieutenant Alexander Korolev—perished. Some sources suggest they were shot down by their own air defense, but this remains unconfirmed.

On the Ukrainian side, one loss is known through court documents. These reveal that a Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Dnipropetrovsk region due to possible violations of flight regulations and improper operation. The crew suffered various injuries, and the helicopter sustained severe damage. Investigators secured the wreckage—bearing fuselage number 153—along with its flight recorder on Thursday, January 16, likely the date of the crash. The court documents indicate the wreckage was seized for expert analysis as part of further investigation, but additional details remain unknown.

A few days later, photographs surfaced of an unidentified Mi-8 helicopter crash. One image shows the aircraft overturned on its side, while another captures it being lifted by a crane. No further details were provided. This incident may be related to the January 16 crash, or it could be an entirely separate, previously undocumented event.

The crew of a Russian Mi-8 helicopter that was shot down by a friendly fire on October 18, 2023. Captain Igor Pashkov has been sentenced for it.

 

Verdicts

Court documents, this time from Russia, also provide details on several past incidents.

Friendly Fire: A Mi-8 Helicopter Shot Down by Russian Air Defense

During the observed period, a military court in Sevastopol issued a verdict regarding the loss of a Mi-8 helicopter and its crew, which was mistakenly shot down by Russian air defense. The incident occurred on October 18, 2023, at 6:30 AM. Captain Igor Pashkov, from the air defense command in Crimea, misread the identification data of a slow and low-flying aircraft, reporting it as hostile. He ignored additional information indicating it was a friendly helicopter with its navigation lights on. Two minutes later, the aircraft was struck by missiles from a Tor-M2DT air defense system.

The downed aircraft was a Mi-8MTV-5-1 from the 98th Independent Mixed Aviation Regiment of the Russian Naval Aviation. It was on a patrol mission over the sea, monitoring Ukrainian naval drones. All three crew members—Major Grigory Azanov, Captain Maxim Pasechnik, and Captain Alexei Kontievsky—were killed.

The military court sentenced Pashkov to three years in a penal colony. Additionally, he was ordered to pay 5 million rubles ($56,000) to the Ministry of Defense and 3 million rubles ($34,000) to the families of the deceased crew members. The ministry initially sought 200 million rubles ($2.3 million) in compensation for the destroyed helicopter, but the court dismissed this claim.

Wreckage of the Russian Beriev A-50U airplane, which was shot down on February 23, 2024. A Russian court has now sentenced for „terrorism“ (in absentia) the commander of the Ukrainian unit that had hit it with a Patriot missile.

 

A Truck Crash Destroys a Su-25SM3 Jet

Russian media also reported on another court ruling concerning a past incident at the Gvardeiskoye airbase in Crimea. The date of the event was not disclosed.

The incident involved Alexander Erlich, a conscript from the Chelyabinsk region, who was driving a KAMAZ military truck across the airfield without a driver’s license and exceeding the speed limit. As a result, he crashed into a Su-25SM3 aircraft, which was in the process of towing a Ural-4320 APA-5D utility truck.

The impact caused irreparable damage to the Su-25SM3, and the Russian Ministry of Defense estimated the loss at 387 million rubles ($4.4 million). In its court submission, the ministry also claimed that the incident impaired the unit’s ability to carry out planned air operations due to the lack of a reserve aircraft.

Erlich was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for one and a half years. He was also ordered to pay the ministry 10 million rubles (about $113,000). Erlich appealed the ruling, requesting that the financial penalty be reduced to 300,000 rubles ($3,400), but the appellate court upheld the original verdict.

 

Life Sentence for "Terrorism"

In another case, a Russian court ruled that evidence collected by the Main Military Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee was sufficient to charge Colonel Mykola Dziaman, commander of the 138th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with terrorism. An arrest warrant was issued against him in the summer of 2024.

His brigade had shot down a Russian Beriev A-50U airborne early warning and control aircraft on February 23, 2024. The plane crashed in Russia’s Krasnodar region near the village of Trudovaya Armeniya, killing all 10 crew members.

According to the Russian indictment, Dziaman committed an act of terrorism by knowingly targeting an unarmed A-50 aircraft flying over Russian territory that was not directly engaged in combat operations in Ukraine. Despite this, he allegedly ordered his troops to fire Patriot missiles at the aircraft. As a result, he was sentenced to life in prison in absentia.

The court verdict confirmed several things. First, it provided official acknowledgment that Ukraine had indeed shot down the A-50, contradicting earlier Russian propaganda claims that Ukraine lacked the capability to do so. Previously, Moscow had suggested the aircraft was mistakenly hit by Russian air defense. Second, labeling the attack as "terrorism" highlights the hypocrisy of Russian rhetoric—A-50 aircraft were being used to coordinate Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian targets, including civilian infrastructure. Yet, according to the Russian court, Ukraine's defensive actions amounted to terrorism.

Notably, this was the second A-50 aircraft Russia lost in the same region. The first was shot down over the Sea of Azov on January 14, 2024, also killing its entire crew. These highly specialized personnel are irreplaceable. Furthermore, these two aircraft are the only airborne early warning and control planes ever destroyed in combat operations in global military aviation history. Both belonged to Russia, and both were downed by Ukraine.

According to Russian authorities, this is not terrorism. During a Russian attack during the night of January 27-28, even such a "military target" as the automobile museum in Kyiv was hit. Nine vintage cars were destroyed, and another 27 were damaged.

A Ukrainian modification of the old Soviet 9K33 Osa anti-aircraft system for the use of R-73 air-to-air missiles.

Ukrainians are producing decoys against the Russian missiles and drones in the form of mock-up F-16 fighter jets.

 The Ukrainians produce the fake targets in large numbers. This, for example, is a mock-up of a Leopard 2A6 tank.

Mi-24V helicopters supplied to Ukraine by North Macedonia.

Ex-Czech Mi-24 helicopters in the Ukrainian service.

In the foreground, there is a former Czech Mi-24V helicopter, while in the background there is a Ukrainian Mi-24P.

The Ukrainian 114th Tactical Aviation Brigade has released photos of a MiG-29 fighter jet with an attractive insignia.


Hundreds of Flights of the Ukrainian Mi-8 Helicopter Pilot

By the time you read this article, three years will have passed since the full-scale Russian invasion began. We will cover this sad anniversary in the next part, but today, we bring you a memory from February 24, 2022. This is the story of Mi-8 helicopter pilot Mykhailo, nicknamed "Carnage," derived from the English word meaning massacre.

Mykhailo had served in the Ukrainian Air Force even before the Russian invasion. He flew on a UN mission in Congo and operated in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where his helicopter was fired upon multiple times. He carried out dozens of medical evacuations, deployed paratroopers and special forces, and transported weapons and ammunition.

All of this was supposed to end on February 24, 2022. That day, Mykhailo's contract was set to expire. He was expecting his final military flight, followed by a job in a private company and peaceful moments with his family. However, that "final flight" turned out to be completely different from what was planned—followed by 200 more missions, 132 of which involved live combat engagements. (This data is from the end of August 2024, when the Ukrainian Armed Forces published his story.)

Mykhailo "Karnazh" in front of a Mi-8 helicopter carrying the "Orca Hunter" markings.


On that morning, Mykhailo "Carnage" was assigned a helicopter that had been in storage for six months. According to regulations, it was supposed to undergo a thorough pre-flight inspection. But there was no time for that. The helicopter took off at dawn, followed by a fleet of Mi-8 and Mi-2 helicopters. The mission was to evacuate and rescue equipment.

The very next day of the war, during a flight, he rescued a pilot who ejected right before his eyes. "We were flying to a designated point, and two MiG-29 fighter jets were flying toward us. But only one returned. We looked carefully and saw that the second one was going down, and the pilot ejected. Without hesitation, we decided to pick him up. We landed and waved at him: 'Come to us, we are from Ukraine!' It turned out that he was a classmate of my navigator. He was in shock because he didn't even have time to report his situation before help arrived," Mykhailo recalled with a smile, adding that the fighter pilot quickly returned to duty.

 Mykhailo wears an impressive mask on his helmet.


On the third day of the war, they rescued the crew of a Su-24. This time, the operation followed proper protocols. The pilots reported their coordinates after landing, and Mi-8 crews set out on a search-and-rescue mission. "We found them in the middle of a field—exhausted, disoriented, and injured. But they immediately reassured us: 'We will fly again soon!' Although the chances of returning to active service after such an incident are slim, they kept their word. We later saw them at an operational airfield," Mykhailo recounted.

In the early weeks of the war, he primarily focused on these types of missions—rescuing pilots, evacuating the wounded, and transport flights. Later in the spring, Air Force helicopter pilots joined ground attack operations, and Mykhailo fired his weapons for the first time. The attacks involved launching unguided rockets in a ballistic arc, similar to a flying rocket launcher. "During my first combat flight, I was trained by Vitaliy Pliak from the Army Aviation. He was a funny guy, covered in tattoos, and constantly joked with me. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us. We did an excellent job and destroyed a mortar battery near Dovhenke. I couldn't keep up with him. He had an Mi-8MT with some 'hypersonic speed,' while I had a slower Mi-8MSB," Mykhailo recalled his first live combat mission.

By the end of August last year, Mykhailo "Karnazh" had carried out 132 such attacks with unguided rockets.

That first day, he flew again, and the next day, he flew three more sorties. Firing unguided rockets required great accuracy—finding the right angle and pressing the trigger at the perfect moment. "Carnage" openly admitted that his accuracy was lacking at first. Sometimes, however, he missed the intended target but hit another, even more valuable one. He and other pilots trained in this tactics while flying the combat missions. In the first two weeks alone, he completed 21 flights.

A shot from the training of Ukrainian paratroopers on Mi-8 helicopters. Mykhailo also conducted flights with special forces.

A major motivation to improve accuracy was the risk of being shot down. If they flew a combat mission but missed the target, they had to return and attempt the attack again—putting themselves at risk once more.

Mykhailo also recalled how he "gifted" his 100th rocket launch to his navigator. He set everything up, aimed, and let his navigator press the trigger in a symbolic moment. He also remembered the Kharkiv campaign, during which he fought for the liberation of his hometown, Izium. At that time, they would strike a target, return to base, and receive a new target—only to realize it was much deeper into enemy territory. His crew asked whether the coordinates were correct, and they were—such was the speed of the Ukrainian forces’ advance.

These two photos of a Mi-8MSB helicopter with the "Orca Hunter" markings had already surfaced in May 2022. However, based on the camouflage pattern and other details, it is a different aircraft than the one Mykhailo "Karnazh" was photographed in front of.

"I admit that after years of war, I feel tired and exhausted... But when you see from the sky the destroyed cities that you remember as beautiful and flourishing…" he paused, adding that he no longer thinks about leaving the armed forces—not until victory. "What will I do first? I've never been abroad with my family, and my wife reminds me of it regularly. But to be honest, I'm afraid of flying... as a passenger," joked the helicopter pilot, who has been awarded the Order for Courage (III and II degrees), the Bohdan Khmelnytsky Order, and the Silver Cross for his actions.

03/2025
Info EDUARD 03/2025

INFO Eduard is a monthly scale model-historical magazine published in Czech and English by Eduard Model Accessories since 2010. The magazine is available for free on the Triobo platform and can be downloaded in PDF format. Eduard is a manufacturer of plastic models and accessories with over 30 years of tradition. Throughout its history in the plastic modeling industry, Eduard has become one of the world's leaders. Further details about the company and its product range can be found at www.eduard.com. You can subscribe to the INFO magazine and receive product information for free at: https://www.eduard.com/cs/info-eduard/

 

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