"Kommersant": Air group of two Mi-8 helicopters, Su-34 and Su-35 fighters shot down

Moscow-based "Kommersant" newspaper has learned that two Russian Air Force Mi-8 helicopters might have been shot down almost simultaneously near the Ukrainian border in the Bryansk Region, along with a Su-34 fighter bomber and a Su-35 fighter on the outskirts of the town of Klintsy. Their crews were killed. The attackers are being sought on the ground and in the air. Authorities in the region have confirmed the crash of only one helicopter.

According to preliminary reports, they were all part of the same air group - the fighters were to carry out a missile and bombing strike on targets in Ukraine's Chernihiv Region, while the helicopters backed them up to, among other things, pick up the Su crews if they were shot down by the enemy fire. All four machines did not return to the airfield. Their pilots were killed.

Head of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said that as a result of the helicopter crash in Klintsy a local resident was injured and five households were damaged. The region's authorities did not report any other crashes. TASS, citing emergency services, reported only one Su-34 fighter jet crashing near the border. Neither the governor nor the agency reported the reasons for the crashes.

Video footage posted on social media by local residents suggests that at least one Mi-8 that went down on the outskirts of the town of Klintsy was hit by a missile. The missile was presumed to have been launched from the ground, so the Bryansk police went on high alert, announcing an Interception Plan to search for possible saboteurs.

Specialists, however, suggested that judging by the missile's approach to the helicopter, the attack was most likely carried out by air-to-air missiles, i.e. from enemy aircraft or helicopters. Thus, the air force group was likely to have been ambushed.