Ukraine forces destroy next "Alligator" helicopter of Russian troops

The Ukrainian Air Force says its anti-aircraft missile units have destroyed a second Russian Ka-52 "Alligator" helicopter in the span of five days in addition to multiple other aircraft.

On August 21, in what the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine described in a Facebook post as a "bombardment" of ten airstrikes on various Russian positions, seven unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of an operational-tactical level and two Kalibr cruise missiles were destroyed in addition to the Alligator, per Newsweek. The attack mirrored one carried out by Ukrainian forces on August 16, involving the same amount of airstrikes that took out an Alligator and three unmanned Russian aircraft in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions.

Airstrikes continue to be carried out by both sides. In a Facebook update, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Russia carried out airstrikes near the Mala Tokmachka and Olhivske districts in the direction of Zaporizhzhia. In the Southern Buh direction, air attacks were conducted near the districts of Zarichne, Bila Krynytsia and Andriyivka.

"Our missile and artillery units and aviation continue to successfully carry out fire missions in the designated directions," Ukrainian forces wrote. "The enemy is experiencing an acute shortage of trained and motivated reinforcements for units that are systematically suffering losses."

United States-provided HIMAR rockets continue to be fruitful to Ukrainian forces, as a new report Monday said Ukraine's armed forces successfully attacked a pro-Russian separatist group's base in Donetsk that has existed since Russia first annexed Crimea in 2014.

Serhiy Gaidai, head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, announced that the base of the Pyatnashka battalion was set on fire on August 22.

"Right now, on the outskirts of Donetsk, either someone was smoking carelessly, or it was 'stones from the sky,'" Gaidai wrote in a Facebook post. "The base of the famous 'Pyatnashka,' an international gang that fought in the Luhansk region, is on fire. A bunch of 200s and 300s. Destroyed fashionable equipment. There will be more."