| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Putin's Helicopter Unsuccessfully Targeted by Multiple Ukrainian Drones |
| 2025-05-27 |
| [Newsweek] Vladimir Putin's helicopter was targeted by Ukrainian drones as he visited the Kursk region in a surprise visit last week, a Russian military official has claimed. The alleged attack took place as the Russian president visited the border region for the first time since Moscow claimed it had repelled Ukrainian forces from the area last month. Putin's helicopter was "at the epicenter" of a "large-scale" Ukrainian drone attack on May 20, Yury Dashkin, commander of a Russian air defense division, said, according to Kremlin newswire Tass. Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment by email. WHY IT MATTERS This is the first known instance in which the Russian president is reported to have flown through an active drone attack. WHAT TO KNOW Russia's defense ministry was forced to shoot down dozens of drones during the incident, according to Dashkin, who said in an interview aired by the state-run Rossiya-24 TV channel that the intensity of the assault escalated significantly as the presidential aircraft flew over Kursk. He said Russian air defense systems engaged the drones to ensure the safety of the presidential helicopter. Dashkin described the attack as "unprecedented" but said all the Ukrainian drones had been destroyed. The Kremlin confirmed that Putin had visited Kursk in an unannounced trip, shortly after Russia declared it had regained full control over the region where Ukraine carried out a cross border incursion last year. During the visit, Putin met with local volunteers, municipal leaders, and the acting governor, Alexander Khinshtein, according to Tass. The Russian president rarely travels to front line regions and is known for a keeping physical distance from the public even during official engagements. Ukraine maintains that its operations in Kursk continue. Earlier this month, Ukrainian troops were said to have breached the Russian border near the village of Tetkino. Ukrainian officials haven't comment on the alleged attack on Putin, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his country has every right to kill Putin if the opportunity arises, if doing so would protect Ukraine and its people. Zelensky told The Sun in Kyiv in November 2023 that he has lost track of the number of times Moscow has attempted to assassinate him since Putin launched a full-scale invasion of his country. "That's war, and Ukraine has all the rights to defend our land," the Ukrainian leader said when asked if Kyiv would take a chance to assassinate Putin if such an opportunity arose. |
| Posted by:Clem+Elmish4239 |
| #3 Brazen |
| Posted by: mossomo 2025-05-27 16:19 |
| #2 Earlier reports suggest an E&E action by several. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-05-27 11:44 |
| #1 Based on the 'aircraft type' drones supposedly used, the helicopter likely flew through an ongoing attack on a military base or airfield and wasn't specifically targeted. The Ukr does use drones for aerial interceptions, but those are the smaller mavic types. If the Ukranians actually had Intel on that specific helicopter (highly unlikely), they would have used a SAM, manpad or something else that has a bigger punch. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2025-05-27 06:37 |