The Russian propaganda channel on Telegram, Fighterbomber, reported the crash of the Mi-28 attack helicopter in the Kerch Strait area. According to the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, the task of the Mi-28s used in the area of Crimea annexed by the Russian army is, among other things, to protect the Crimean Bridge, which may again be attacked by Ukrainian forces.
The Fighterbomber Telegram channel reported that the Mi-28 crash occurred on Saturday in the Kerch Strait area. He did not reveal any more details. The author of the Fighterbomber channel – according to the findings of a group of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) analysts – is former military pilot Ilya Tumanov.
Another Russian Telegram channel, 13 Tactical, wrote that the helicopter crash occurred as a result of the crew losing control. The machine was about to fall into the water. 13 Tactical reported that the rescue operation with the participation of aviation had been completed, one of the pilots had died, and the search for the other was ongoing (his fate has not been announced yet).
The authors of Channel 13 Tactical are unknown. Information about the situation on the front is posted there. The entries show that this is a pro-war source.
Tasks in the area of annexed Crimea
The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN recalled that Mi-28 helicopters are used by the Russians to patrol the Kerch Strait area. Their task is also, among others, protection of the Crimean Bridge, which may again be attacked by Ukrainian forces.
After the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Crimean Bridge became the main route for transporting troops and supplies for Russian troops attacking Ukraine from the south. So far, it has been attacked twice – in July last year and October 2022.
Mi-28s are also used by the Russian army to intercept Ukrainian drones.
At the beginning of August, the media in Kiev reported, citing sources in the Security Service of Ukraine, that Ukrainian forces used a drone to shoot down over the Kursk Oblast in Russia Russian Mi-28 helicopter. The recording of the attack on the Mi-28 was published on the X platform by a Ukrainian blogger and volunteer who raises money for drones for the army, Serhiy Sternenko. He wrote that the attack was carried out by a long-range FPV drone.
In July this year, Russian media reported on the Mi-28 crash in the Kaluga Oblast in Russia. The machine – as reported – was supposed to intercept the drone, but unexpectedly began to lose speed and altitude. The helicopter crew was killed.
The Mi-28 crash also occurred in May last year near the city of Dzhankoy in Crimea. At that time, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced that the machine was carrying out a “planned training flight”.
According to the Russian website RBK, the main task of the Mi-28 attack helicopter is to destroy tanks. It is also used to patrol the area and conduct reconnaissance.
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