Russian officer convicted for mistakenly shooting down military helicopter over Crimea
A Russian Air Defense Force officer has been sentenced following a mishap where a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter was shot down instead of a suspected enemy drone over Crimea. This marks the first conviction of a Russian officer for negligence in the face of a presumed attack by Ukrainian forces on Crimea, as reported by Kommersant.
The officer, found guilty of the incident, will serve his sentence in a penal colony. The court, however, denied the Defense Ministry's claim for nearly 200 million rubles ($1.94 million)—the helicopter's value—from him. Igor Pashkov, who served as the senior assistant to the duty officer of an air defense unit command post located in annexed Crimea, faced the Sevastopol Garrison Military Court under charges of negligence that unintentionally resulted in the death of three people (Part 3 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code).
According to Russian media, "He faced up to seven years of imprisonment, but the trial court limited it to three years in a penal settlement and disqualified him from occupying organizational and administrative positions in state service and local government for one year."
The "friendly fire" incident occurred at 6:30 AM on October 18, 2023, while Captain Pashkov was on combat duty. He received a report about the detection of a low-flying, slow-moving aerial target. The chief gunnery officer on duty provided his call sign as required, but Pashkov misidentified it, mistakenly informing his superiors of the target's location in another sector and recommending its destruction. The chief later clarified that the target was a helicopter flying with lights on, but it was too late.
Reports indicate that Igor Pashkov failed to trust the additional data. Alleged checks supposedly confirmed that no friendly aircraft were in the target's location.
Two minutes after the initial alert, a missile fired from a TOR-M2DT surface-to-air missile system destroyed the target. Moments later, it was discovered that the defense system had targeted its own. The downed Mi-8MTV-5–1 crashed into the Black Sea, claiming the lives of its three crew members, all captains.
On the same day, the military investigative arm of the Investigative Committee of Russia initiated a criminal case under Part 5 of Article 340 of the Criminal Code (violation of combat duty regulations during active hostilities resulting in significant consequences).
The case continued against unknown individuals until May 2024, when Igor Pashkov turned himself in, admitting his potential blunder.
Investigators charged him with negligence.
Reports indicate that in the garrison court, the officer fully admitted his guilt but, exercising his right under Article 51 of the Russian Constitution, abstained from testifying.
The court ordered Pashkov to pay 5 million rubles to the Russian Defense Ministry, which valued the destroyed helicopter at 204 million rubles and sought restitution for property damage. To the pilots' widows, who hoped for 3 million rubles each in moral damages, the court awarded 1 million rubles each.
The verdict was appealed by all parties, including the Defense Ministry, at the Southern Military District Court in Rostov-on-Don. The court upheld the verdict, considering all "mitigating circumstances" like "positive references" and "remorse for the incident." Additionally, Igor Pashkov supports a child with disabilities.