Strana 29
UKRAINE
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 anniver-
sary 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, nickna-
med "Carnage," derived from the English word
meaning massacre.
Mykhailo had served in the Ukrainian Air For-
ce even before the Russian invasion. He flew on
a UN mission in Congo and operated in the Do-
netsk and Luhansk regions, where his helicopter
was fired upon multiple times. He carried out
dozens of medical evacuations, deployed pa-
ratroopers 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 For-
ces published his story.)
On that morning, Mykhailo "Carnage" was
assigned a helicopter that had been in sto-
rage for six months. According to regulations,
it was supposed to undergo a thorough pre-fli-
ght 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 re-
port his situation before help arrived," Mykhailo
recalled with a smile, adding that the fighter pi-
lot quickly returned to duty.
On the third day of the war, they rescued
the crew of a Su-24. This time, the operation
followed proper protocols. The pilots repor-
ted 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—exhaus-
ted, disoriented, and injured. But they immedia-
tely reassured us: 'We will fly again soon!' Alt-
hough the chances of returning to active service
Mykhailo "Karnazh"
in front of a Mi-8
helicopter carrying
the "Orca Hunter"
markings.
Mykhailo wears an
impressive mask
on his helmet.
INFO Eduard
29
March 2025