Russian Ka-52 gunship accidentally hits target on ground (VIDEO)
Footage of an incident leaked online on Tuesday shows accidental rocket fire from a Russian strike helicopter hitting close to parked cars. The Russian military denied earlier reports on social media that the incident happened during the ongoing Zapad war games.
UPDATE: Watch alleged cockpit video of the incident
The footage shows two Ka-52 helicopters approaching a group of several cars. One of the helicopters then fires a rocket at a nearby object.
The Russian military denied claims on social media, which said that the incident happened during the ongoing Zapad drills and resulted in several casualties. The footage shows the actual incident, but it happened during another exercise, according to the public relations department of Russia’s Western Military District.
Ка-52 наносит ракетный удар по гражданским целям во время учений "Запад-2017" pic.twitter.com/0AP1K1yJ6n
— Mikhail Golub (@golub) September 19, 2017
“All the reports on social media about a barrage of rockets hitting a crowd of journalist and a large number of casualties are either a deliberate provocation or someone’s personal stupidity,” a statement said Tuesday.
The department said that during the incident shown in the video “the targeting system of one of the helicopters erroneously locked on a wrong target. A hit by an unguided air-to-surface missile caused damage to a truck, but no people were hurt.”
The military didn’t detail when or where this happened.
