Russian Ka-29 helicopter downed by friendly fire during Ukrainian UAV attack in Krasnodar
On the night of June 21, a Russian Ka-29 helicopter was downed over Anapa, in the Krasnodar region. The incident occurred due to so-called "friendly fire." A Russian air defence system mistakenly targeted the helicopter. Details of the incident were shared by a Russian blogger on a Telegram channel.
The first report of the lost Ka-29 surfaced at 11:24 on June 21. The blogger shared a black-and-white image of the helicopter and mentioned it crashed during a combat mission. The four Russian crew members did not survive. No further details on the cause of the incident or the specific location were provided.
Other Russian war bloggers added more information about the night-time events of June 21.
A blogger with the nickname "Thirteenth" claimed that the helicopter was shot down by the Russians themselves. The strike was carried out by a Pantsir-S1 air defence system that was at the time targeting Ukrainian UAVs. Concurrently, the Ka-29 was heading towards Crimea to counter an attack by naval drones from Ukrainian forces. Allegedly, the Russian "idenification friend or foe" system failed, leading to the friendly fire incident.
War correspondent Flightbomber also spoke about the incident over Krasnodar. He explained that the cause was a new tactic by Ukrainian forces, which involves simultaneous attacks with UAVs and maritime drones. Helicopters are deployed to destroy the maritime drones but end up being targeted by Russian air defences, which are concurrently focusing on flying drones.
"By creating an overload of channels, there is hope for errors and reduced efficiency in air defence operations," wrote the correspondent.
The Russian Ministry of Defence's Telegram channel did not mention the incident over Krasnodar. Governor Veniamin Kondratyev did not comment on it either. Russian news agency TASS reported a separate helicopter incident involving a Robinson R-66, but this occurred 7,000 km from Ukraine in the Amur region.
A massive night-time drone attack by Ukrainian forces on June 21 was carried out overnight. Residents of two Russian regions reported explosions and fires near local oil refineries on social media. The Russian Ministry of Defence later confirmed that 114 drones had been involved in the raid.
Moreover, OSINT analysts have identified five military targets hit by the Ukrainians overnight: oil refineries in the Volgograd and Krasnodar regions. The General Staff of Ukraine confirmed the attack and its success.