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their own helicopter for an attacking Ukrainian
drone. The two-man crew did not survive.
They Burned the Trash—Along
With the Helicopter
Another incident, that could be described as
an own goal, was the destruction of two light
aircraft, which occurred sometime before
Tuesday, 21 October, when video of the attack
was published. Russian propaganda television
played a major role in making this possible.
Russia had begun using Ukrainian-style tactics
in the fight against drones, deploying light
aircraft from which the second crew member
fires at drones with small arms installed in the
cockpit.
Russian television filmed a report about this,
showing not only a Yak-52 with registration
RA-1874G from the Bars-Sarmat unit,
but also detailed shots of the airfield it
operated from. This airfield was quickly
identified as the former private airfield Korsak,
near the village of Pryazovske, 20 km southeast
of occupied Melitopol and only 80 km from the
front line. It had recently been renovated, and
the Russians had begun using it as a base
for anti-drone operations. Immediately after
the Russian report was broadcast, Ukrainian
drones “paid a visit” and destroyed at least two
aircraft—a Yak-52 and a high-wing aircraft,
probably a Cessna 172, which also appeared
in the televised report. Instead of a cockpit
gunner, this Cessna carried two machine guns
mounted at the wing-strut attachment points.
Another loss occurred earlier but was
confirmed only recently. Court documents
reveal that on 4 September 2024, a Mi-8
helicopter belonging to Russia’s National
Guard, Rosgvardia, burned down at a training
airfield near Novocherkassk in Rostov Oblast.
It happened under tragicomic circumstances.
Captain Nikolai Novoselov ordered trash that
had been dumped into a pit to be burned, even
though regulations explicitly forbade this.
Strong winds caused the burning trash to
ignite dry grass nearby—and from there, the
helicopter itself caught fire.
The helicopter was fully fueled and loaded
with rescue, parachute, and pyrotechnic
equipment. The entire aircraft, along with
its cargo, burned to ashes. Rosgvardia
calculated the damage at 574 million rubles
(7.3 million USD) and sought compensation
from Novoselov through the courts. However,
the court dismissed the claim and fined the
captain 350,000 rubles only (4,400 USD),
reasoning that he would never be able to pay
such a huge sum anyway.
Russian propaganda boasted about using light Yak-52 aircraft against drones,
inadvertently revealing the exact location of the airfield.
The Ukrainian drone response did not take long.
UKRAINE
INFO Eduard
59
December 2025