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Ukraine Debunks Kremlin Claim of Drone Attack on Putin’s Helicopter as “False and Unfounded”
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![Photo of Liubava Petriv]( "Photo of Liubava Petriv")
On May 27, Ukraine dismissed as false a dramatic Russian claim that Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s helicopter came under fire from Ukrainian drones during a recent visit to the Kursk region.
The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security of Ukraine described the statement by a Russian air defense commander as false and lacking evidence.
The original claim was made by Yuri Dashkin, commander of an air defense division, during a May 25 interview on the state-run channel Russia-24. Dashkin alleged that Putin’s helicopter was in the “epicenter of a Ukrainian drone attack” during the president’s recent trip.
However, the Ukrainian Center pointed out that Kremlin-aligned media outlets covering the visit consistently showed Putin traveling by car. Footage of his motorcade was widely broadcast on federal channels. Additionally, there were no reports from the Russian Ministry of Defense, local media, or Telegram channels of any drone strikes in the area during the dates in question that would support Dashkin’s statement.
In fact, Vladimir Putin visited the Kursk region on May 20—his first trip there since the Russian Defense Ministry announced in late April that the area had been fully “liberated” from Ukrainian forces. The narrative of a dramatic helicopter escape through a swarm of drones appears to have surfaced only now, raising further questions about its credibility, according to the Center.
Previously, it was reported that Pavel Zolotaryov, head of the Glushkovsky district in Russia’s Kursk region, told Russian leader Vladimir Putin that the Ukrainian city of Sumy should be annexed to Russian territory.
