Ukrainian Maritime Drone Takes Down Two Russian Mi-8 Helicopters Near Crimea, Damages Third

Ukraine’s Magura V5 maritime drone, equipped with R-73 missiles, destroyed two Russian Mi-8 helicopters and damaged a third near occupied Crimea on December 31, 2024, according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) report on January 2.

The groundbreaking operation was carried out by the elite ‘Group 13’ unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russian Telegram channels, including Russian Aviation and Fighterbomber, confirmed the losses. Fighterbomber’s operator, Russian military serviceman Ilya Tumanov, noted the loss of ‘crews,’ indicating that more than one Mi-8 helicopter was involved.

HUR stated that preliminary information suggests all crew members aboard the downed helicopters were killed.

Additionally, a third Russian helicopter, likely a Ka-27PS, sustained damage but managed to land. Russian sources hinted that up to 16 personnel might have been aboard the destroyed aircraft.

Ukrainian Navy spokesman Dmytro Ptelenchuk reacted to the destruction of Russian helicopters.

According to him, there has been little information in the publiс lately about the successful use of Ukrainian unmanned boats because the Russians have been using aviation, particularly helicopters, to fight them. And now the Russians are wondering what to do about it.

“The issue here is not that they lost their helicopters. The issue here is that they have received an answer to their tactics. Their problem today is not in losses, but in the fact that now they need to think about how to work properly,” he emphasized.

Earlier, reports emerged that for the first time in history, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was destroyed using a naval drone.