Ukrainian Troops Destroy Russian Mi-8 Helicopter with FPV Drone in Donbas
New details have emerged regarding the destruction of a Russian Mil Mi-8MTV-5 helicopter on September 29, 2025. The aircraft was shot down by fighters of the 1st Battalion of Unmanned Systems “Predators of the Heights” from Ukraine’s 59th Separate Assault Brigade using an FPV drone in the Pokrovsk direction.
Video footage showing the wreckage was released by the strike drone pilot with the callsign “Baltika,” who directly carried out the attack.
According to published information, the helicopter was identified as board “71 Blue” (registration RF-91147, serial number V0093). It belonged to the 487th Independent Helicopter Regiment based at Budyonnovsk airfield in Russia’s Stavropol region. The unit is considered one of the most combat-capable formations in Russian Army aviation and has experience in local conflicts.
Sources report that the aircraft was commanded by Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Avramenko. Despite a fire in the cockpit, he reportedly attempted to land the helicopter. The aircraft did not break apart in the air but made a hard landing while already engulfed in flames.
Other crew members and paratroopers were on board. The navigator suffered severe burns but survived and was evacuated for emergency medical care. The flight technician was also injured and rescued. However, six servicemen from the landing party were killed at the scene.
The helicopter was struck by one of the unit’s most experienced pilots, callsign “Baltika,” using a Shrike-10 FPV drone equipped with a PG-7M warhead. Reconnaissance drones were used to detect the target and guide the strike drone.
A separate FP-1 drone recorded and confirmed the destruction. This marks only the second documented case in history of an FPV drone successfully destroying a combat helicopter in flight.
Even dozens of kilometers from the front line, any mistake can be fatal. Russia’s full-scale war in eastern Ukraine has fundamentally changed military tactics, logistics, and even the very concept of the rear area.
Earlier, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi issued a statement marking the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion.
