A Russian helicopter burst into flames after a Ukrainian missile strike took down the aircraft in Zaporizhzhia. Zaporizhzhia is one of the four regions in Ukraine that Vladimir Putin had declared were Russia’s “forever”. Ukraine deployed a MANPADS, a portable surface-to-air missile, to shoot down the Ka-52 helicopter.
Footage of the attack shows the helicopter flying alongside two other Russian helicopters before a missile is launched.
The helicopter is struck by the weapon before crashing into a nearby field, sparking a series of huge explosions.
UA Weapons, a social media account that monitors the conflict, tweeted: “A Russian helicopter which was flying at an extreme low level was shot down by a Ukrainian MANPADS in #Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
“It was claimed to be a Ka-52.”
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Earlier today, another monitor claimed that the Ka-52 attack helicopter was the twentieth that Russia has lost since the invasion began.
The successful attack is another sign that President Putin’s controversial and illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions was already unravelling.
Alongside Zaporizhzhia, President Putin also annexed Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk and declared them Russian land.
During a rally in Moscow yesterday, President Putin declared that Zaporizhzhia would “forever” be Russian territory.