Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov hijacked a Mi-8 helicopter from Kursk and crossed into Ukraine with two other crew members. This was reported by Telegram channel Basis.
According to the channel, the Mi-8 was transferred from the airport in Kursk to the Kharkiv region on August 9. While the Russian Ministry of Defense did not comment on the situation, Russian patriotic Telegram channels wrote that the helicopter may have lost its direction.
A month later, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov flew a Mi-8 helicopter to the republic. The head of the GUR, Kirill Budanov, said that it was Ukrainian military intelligence that convinced the Russians to hijack the helicopter and that the pilot flew to Ukraine with two crew members. According to Budanov, they had to get rid of Kuzminov’s companions because they did not know that the plane was hijacked and they resisted.
According to Baza, Kuzminov served in the 319th separate helicopter regiment of army aviation with a deployment point in Primorsky Krai.
On September 5, the Russian pilot spoke at a press conference in Kiev. The man said that the Mi-8’s course is coordinated, that it must fly at an extremely low altitude (5-10 meters) and in radio silence. According to Kuzminov, he was shot at, probably by Russian troops, while crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border. It was claimed that the pilot was injured in the leg but managed to reach his target.
Formerly a fighter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine declaration About the misunderstanding of the causes of the conflict in Ukraine.