Russian pilot uncovers how he delivered the Mi-8AMTSh helicopter to Ukraine

5 September, 2023 Captured Russian Mi-8AMTSh helicopter. September 2023. Photo from open sources

Maksim Kuzminov, pilot of the Russian Mi-8AMTSh helicopter, discussed how he flew to Ukraine. During the final stage of the operation, he was persuading the crew members to surrender to the Ukrainian side. He explained this during a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday, September 5.

According to him, the other two crew members got scared, started behaving aggressively, and ran toward the border after the helicopter landed.

Representatives of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and Maksim Kuzminov at a briefing in Kyiv on September 5, 2023

"I had two crew members with me. We did not have weapons with us. Our pilots fly unarmed.

No one could resist me as the navigator had no helicopter piloting skills. I calmed the guys down, I told them that everything was fine, that good people lived here, and everything would be fine. But they started to get scared, behave a little bit aggressively, and eventually ran out of the helicopter toward the border.

I don't know their fate, but according to the media, it is possible that they were killed," Kuzminov said. The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine previously reported that as a result of a special operation codenamed Synytsia (Titmouse - Ed.), two crew members of the Russian Aerospace Forces' Mi-8AMTSh helicopter with tail number 62 were killed. According to the 28-year-old pilot, he "did not just hijack the helicopter, but officially moved it from point A to point B" because the route and landing site in Ukraine had been agreed upon in advance.

A Russian Mi-8AMTSh helicopter, transferred to Ukraine.

September 2023. Photo from open sources

Maksim Kuzminov shared that on August 9 at 4:30 p.m., he took off from the Kursk airport and flew in the direction of the Kharkiv region. He flew at an extremely low altitude of 5-10 meters in radio silence near the village of Shebekino.

While crossing the interstate border, the helicopter was fired upon. "I can't say for sure who started it, but I assume it was the Russian side. I was shot in the leg with small weapons.

I then flew about 20 kilometers away and landed in the designated place," the pilot reported. According to him, the pilot was promised payments within a special law, new documents, and security for himself and his relatives. Kuzminov is now in safety and is providing Ukrainian intelligence with information about Russian military aviation, communication systems, and the airfield network of the aggressor country.