"I'm Hit, Going Down": Ukraine Drone Destroys Russian Chopper For First Time

A Russian helicopter pilot panicked during a radio call after being hit by a Ukrainian missile. In a radio intercept obtained by Ukrainian intelligence operatives, the military intelligence destroyed a Russian helicopter and damaged another one in the Black Sea using one of its naval drones on Tuesday.

Ukraine's military intelligence service on its social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter) posted the video of an downing of a Russian Mi-8 helicopter using  Ukrainian Magura V5 naval drone.

The video shows splashes as gunfire strikes the water around the Magura drone boat, suggesting that it was under attack. 

#працюєГУР

💥 Історичний удар ― воїни ГУР вперше у світі знищили повітряну ціль за допомогою морського дрона Magura V5

🔗 https://t.co/Td2vPEy6St pic.twitter.com/UC3SNnp6ah

— Defence intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) December 31, 2024

The video shows a helicopter through a thermal imager, bright against the dark sky, and the firing of a missile. The video is indistinct and there is considerable movement from the rocking of the boat, but it appears to show the helicopter hit and plummeting down to crash into the sea.

According to Forbes, the intercepted radio communications include the pilot saying "482, I'm hit, going down!"

#ГУРперехоплення

❗️"БЫЛ ПУСК С ВОДЫ ― ПО МНЕ ПОПАЛИ!"

📻У здобутому розвідниками радіоперехопленні пілот підбитого ракетою з морського дрона Magura V5 російського гелікоптера Мі-8 панічно пояснює характер та наслідки вогневого ураження борту.

🔗 https://t.co/H2GwvgVuWV pic.twitter.com/VqcH0tXhi2

— Defence intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) December 31, 2024

The intercept continues, "There was an explosion - I got hit. The launch came from the water. Then there was another flash. I didn't see where it went, but the first one hit me directly and exploded nearby - I felt it on the helicopter. Some systems have failed."

In a battle near Cape Tarkhankut on Crimea's west coast on Tuesday, a Magura V5 maritime drone equipped with missiles hit a Russian Mi-8 helicopter, Ukraine's GUR spy agency said on Telegram.

GUR said it was the first time a Ukrainian naval drone had downed an air target. 

Kyiv's military has used maritime drones to strike Russian warships and facilities on the Crimean peninsula, seized and annexed by Moscow in 2014. Naval drone and missile strikes have inflicted heavy damage to Russia's major naval base in Sevastopol and its Black Sea Fleet has been forced to rebase almost all warships elsewhere, Ukraine says.