Regional authorities vow support for Il-22 crew families amid the June 24 uprising
The Ivanovo regional government stated that it would assist the families of the Il-22 crew based in the region who were shot down during the June 24 uprising involving the Wagner PMC. This commitment was announced by the regional administration’s press office.
The relief follows a message from Governor Stanislav Voskresensky, who expressed shared grief with the relatives of the fallen service members. He praised each pilot for qualities such as valor, courage, and selflessness, noting their loyalty to the oath and their steadfast fulfillment of duty. An appeal was made for Eternal Memory for the heroes. The regional authorities also pledged comprehensive support to the families of those who died in the incident.
On June 25, a war correspondent for Channel One, Irina Kuksenkova, reported that Wagner PMC fighters had shot down an Il-22 near Voronezh, with ten crew members on board who all perished. In related remarks, Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the PMC, was quoted as indicating that the pilots should not have attacked the air targets in question and that the convoy’s forces had acted aggressively. He also signaled a willingness to provide compensation, proposing 50 million rubles to the families of the deceased pilots. [Citation: public statements from channel coverage and PMC leadership reports]
Two days later, a public page for the Ivanovo region on VKontakte clarified that eight individuals on board had died, with two crew members not participating in the flight. Available information identified among the dead the aircraft commander, a commander-instructor, a navigator, a flight engineer, a technician, a flight technician, and two radio operators. The Telegram channels and public social-media posts identified names and origins, including that the commander was from Ivanovo and aged 32, and that a radio operator was approaching his 50th birthday. Other crew members included a senior flight engineer aged 29, an instructor-commander born in 1979 in Ivanovo, and a flight engineer born in 1980 who left behind three children. [Citation: regional social media updates and crowd-sourced reports]
Initial reports from the morning of June 24 indicated that rebels had attacked several aircraft belonging to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, though details were scarce at first. Subsequently, footage circulated showing Wagner units attempting to shoot down a Ka-52 helicopter over Voronezh, a hit landing on a fuel depot and triggering a large fire. Further video from the Rostov region’s village of Rassvet depicted Wagner forces firing at a helicopter during the night of June 24. By June 25, as the rebels withdrew, sources cited a broader picture that included multiple aircraft losses. [Citation: contemporary media coverage and video evidence]
According to information reported by various outlets, the first helicopter fell near Elizavetovka in the Pavlovsky district of Voronezh around 5 a.m. on June 24, with a later report noting a second helicopter down near Filonovo in the Boguchansky district around 9 a.m. The scale of the disturbance also included damage to dozens of local residences as the confrontation intensified. In total, the events of June 24 involved several helicopters and aircraft lost in combat, with conflicting tallies depending on the source. [Citation: multiple regional reporting updates]
Estimates from defense and military-press outlets suggested that the Wagner mutiny affected a number of aircraft, including Mi-8MTPRs, an Mi-8 transport, a Ka-52, and an Mi-35; figures for the crew counts varied by source. The information indicated that the air crews consisted of between two and three personnel per helicopter, with the Il-22 crew complement adding to the overall losses. In parallel, two Ka-52 crew members from the Pskov region were confirmed to be among the deceased, while the Ministry of Defense had not issued a definitive public tally at the time of reporting. [Citation: defense and regional military briefs]
On June 27, the governor of the Pskov region confirmed the death of two Ka-52 crew members through a Telegram video message. The deceased occupations were a lieutenant colonel and a lieutenant assigned to the regional garrison. The absence of an official MoD statement regarding the total number of aircraft downed and personnel losses persisted at the time of reporting. [Citation: regional communications and official corroboration via Telegram]
Yevgeny Prigozhin spoke on June 27 for the first time since the uprising, expressing regret over the downed planes and helicopters. In a June 26 address, President Vladimir Putin highlighted the pilots’ contributions to ending the armed rebellion and praised their courage and sacrifice. On the following day, Putin again honored the pilots during a military address at the Kremlin, calling for a moment of silence to pay respect. [Citation: presidential and PMC statements; post-uprising commentary]