Air defense officer who shot down a helicopter with three Russian soldiers instead of a drone was tried in occupied Crimea: what punishment was handed down by the court

In the temporarily occupied Crimea, Russian air defense officer Igor Pashkov was imprisoned for three years for "friendlier fire". In October 2023, the occupier shot down a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter, allegedly mistaking it for a drone of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

As a result, three crew members were killed, according to propaganda publications. The decision was made by the Sevastopol Garrison Military Court.

The Russian media claim that the captain of the air defense unit was sentenced to two years and ten months in a penal colony in a case of negligence that led to the death of three people (parts 1.1 and 3 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code).

The incident occurred on December 18, 2023. Pashkov was on duty in one of the units in the occupied Crimea when he received a report "about the detection of a low-speed, low-flying air target." The occupier decided that the target was a Ukrainian UAV and ordered it to be destroyed. The object turned out to be a Russian Mi-8 helicopter, it crashed into the Black Sea, killing three crew members.

The Russians write that Pashkov "made a mistake by not listening to the assessment of the head of the air defense calculation."

The prosecution demanded seven years in prison. However, the court of first instance gave him three years, and as a result of the appeal, the sentence was reduced to 2 years and 10 months. In addition, the invader was ordered to pay five million rubles to the Ministry of Defense of the aggressor country, as well as one million to each of the widows of the deceased occupying pilots. The Russian agency estimated the downed Mi-8 helicopter at 204 million.

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