Mistaken for drone: Russian Su-35 fighter shoots down Mi-8 helicopter in friendly fire

Yevheniia Hubina - 2 October, 15:40

A Russian Su-35 multirole fighter jet has shot down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter. Three crew members aboard the helicopter were killed in the incident, which occurred on 1 October.

Source: Taras Hryhorovych Reports on Telegram

Details: The incident first became known on the evening of 1 October. Several sources reported it, including the Exilenova+ Telegram channel, which reports information on Russian equipment losses, citing sources within the Russian military.

Initial reports indicated that a Russian military helicopter had crashed in Voronezh Oblast. No further details were disclosed at the time. Exilenova+ reported the following day that the helicopter had supposedly been shot down by Russian air defence. The channel later stated that it had in fact been downed by a Russian Su-35 fighter jet after the Mi-8 was mistaken for a Ukrainian drone.

Su-35 multirole fighter jet

Background:

On 29 September, Russia's Defence Ministry also reported that a military aircraft had crashed in Russia's Amur Oblast. The ministry claimed that the crash had occurred during a training flight and that the aircraft had not been carrying ammunition.
OSINT communities also reported the Russian aircraft crash. According to information reported by the Exilenova+ OSINT project, the aircraft belonged to the Russian Defence Ministry.

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