Through a brief statement published on its social media, Ukraine’s Special Operations Command reported that its operatives used one of their “deep-strike” drones to shoot down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter, an event said to have taken place in the Rostov region. The post was accompanied by a low-resolution video of the shoot-down, in which the unmanned system’s camera shows the drone approaching the target before destroying it, with no further details provided.
Quoting what was stated by the aforementioned Ukrainian Special Operations Command in its Facebook post: “We are changing the rules of the game: now it is us who are hunting! For the first time, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down in the air by a ‘deep-strike’ drone. Every mission requires creativity, from the technical characteristics of the vehicle to the planning and training of the pilots.”
It is useful to note that this type of drone attack on Russian helicopters had already been carried out on previous occasions by other Ukrainian units. As an illustrative example, at the end of September local media reported that a drone belonging to the 59th Assault Brigade managed to shoot down another Russian-made Mi-8 flying at low altitude alongside a Ka-52 helicopter. This was later confirmed in Russian analyst forums, where it was indicated that the crew was able to be evacuated some time afterward.
Continuing this review of precedents, it should also be noted that Ukrainian intelligence revealed the use of drones in an attack on a Russian base located in occupied Crimea, where three Mi-8 helicopters and a 55Zh6U Nebo-U radar station were destroyed according to reports. Furthermore, during the month of June, Kyiv carried out an attack on Bryansk International Airport, where one helicopter was eliminated and another was seriously damaged.
It should also be recalled that these deep-strike drones have become an increasingly used element by Ukrainian troops in their war effort against the Russian invasion, and not only in aerial combat. They stand out as a cheaper alternative—produced in larger quantities locally—than the long-range missiles available to Ukraine. In addition, they are weapons that in principle do not have the same usage restrictions as systems donated by its allies, allowing them to be employed on Russian territory without major difficulties in that regard.
You may also like: The MiG-29s of the Ukrainian Air Force are already using the GBU-62 JDAM-ER glide bombs supplied by the U.S. against Russian targets
