The Ukrainian military has confirmed losing six officers in an incident involving two Mil Mi-8 helicopters in Donbass. The deaths, reported by local media, are the second high-profile Air Force incident in as many weeks.
The military aircraft were downed on Thursday by a Russian Su-35 fighter jet while trying to land on a combat mission, military spokesman Ilya Evlash said on Thursday, adding that the exact circumstances are under investigation.
Ukrainian media first reported the loss on Wednesday, citing sources in the brigade to which the pilots belonged. The incident occurred in the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic, with reports indicating that the Mi-8s were involved in action near the city of Artyomovsk, also known as Bakhmut.
Last Friday, two Ukrainian L-39 combat training aircraft collided over Zhytomyr Region to the west of Kiev, resulting in the deaths of three pilots.
One of the flyers – Andrey ‘Juice’ Pilshchikov – was a prominent figure in Kiev’s campaign to secure the delivery of F-16 fighter jets from Western backers. The US and its allies have pledged to train Ukrainian pilots on how to use the American-made aircraft before the promised transfer.
Moscow has criticized the Western provision of increasingly sophisticated weapons to Kiev, saying it escalates the fighting and risks direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, but will not change the outcome of the Ukraine conflict.