This hasn't happened since 2022: Russia reports significant losses after Mi-8 downing near Crimea

The aggressor country Russia has announced the immediate death of a significant number of pilots. It is likely to be the crew of an Mi-8 helicopter, which Ukraine's Defence Intelligence agents shot down with a maritime drone.

It happened off the coast of Crimea on the last day of last year, December 31. The Fighterbomber Telegram channel reports that the end of 2024 in Russia was overshadowed by "the loss of the best crews."

"They fought hard and died in battle. We haven't lost so many of our best guys at once since 2022," the post says.

Fighterbomber added a photo of the Mi-8 helicopter to this text, showing a view from below.

On December 31, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine announced that its soldiers had destroyed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter using a Magura V5 maritime drone. This was a historic moment as it was the first time in the world that someone was able to carry out such an operation.

It happened off the coast of the temporarily occupied Crimea in the Black Sea near Cape Tarkhankut.

The destroyed Russian Mi-8 fell into the sea, while another enemy helicopter, although hit too, managed to reach the airfield.

DIU also released a radio interception of a Russian piloting the said helicopter. The occupier said anxiously that the launch was carried out from the water.

As reported, on December 30, the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed 154 units of military equipment and weapons of the Russian occupation forces. About 1,610 invaders were either killed or injured.

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