The pilot of the Russian Mi-8AMTSh helicopter, Maxim Kuzminov, described how he conducted a flight to Ukraine. During the final stage of the operation, he persuaded the other crew members to surrender to the Ukrainian side. He shared this information during a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday, September 5th.
According to him, two other crew members became frightened and started behaving aggressively, eventually running towards the border after the helicopter had landed.
"With me, there were two crew members. We didn't have any weapons. Our pilots fly without weapons. No one could resist me because the navigator had no helicopter piloting skills. I reassured the guys; I told them everything was fine, that good people lived here, and everything would be great. But they began to fear, behave somewhat aggressively, and apparently, they ran out of the helicopter towards the border. I don't know their fate, but as reported by the media, they might have been eliminated," said Kuzminov.
Earlier, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that two crew members of the Mi-8AMTSh helicopter with the RF registration number 62 were liquidated as a result of the special operation codenamed "Sinytsia."
"Sinytsia"
According to the 28-year-old pilot, he "didn't just steal the helicopter but officially flew it from point A to point B" because the route and landing location on Ukrainian territory had been pre-agreed.
Maxim Kuzminov revealed that on August 9th at 16:30, he took off from the Kursk aerodrome and headed towards the Kharkiv region. In the vicinity of the settlement of Shebekino, he flew at an extremely low altitude of 5-10 meters in radio silence mode. When the helicopter was directly crossing the state border, it came under fire.
"Who started firing at me, I cannot say for certain, but I suspect it was the Russian side. I was wounded in the leg with small arms fire. After that, I flew approximately 20 kilometers and landed at the specified location," the pilot explained.
According to the pilot, he was promised compensation as provided by a special law, new documents, and security for himself and his relatives. Currently, Kuzminov is safe and providing Ukrainian intelligence with information about the Russian army's aviation, communication systems, and the country's aggressor's aerodrome network.
Maxim Kuzminov / screenshot from the film "Shot Down Russian Pilots"
