Strana 25
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 Dnipropet-
rovsk region due to possible violations of flight
regulations and improper operation. The crew
suffered various injuries, and the helicopter
sustained severe damage. Investigators se-
cured 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 investiga-
tion, 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.
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 defen-
se. The incident occurred on October 18, 2023,
at 6:30 AM. Captain Igor Pashkov, from the air
defense command in Crimea, misread the iden-
tification data of a slow and low-flying aircraft,
reporting it as hostile. He ignored additional in-
formation 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 pat-
rol 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 mil-
lion rubles ($2.3 million) in compensation for
the destroyed helicopter, but the court dismi-
ssed this claim.
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 excee-
ding 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 De-
fense estimated the loss at 387 million rubles
($4.4 million). In its court submission, the mini-
stry also claimed that the incident impaired the
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.
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.
UKRAINE
INFO Eduard
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March 2025