Pilot Who Flew Mi-8 Helicopter To Ukraine Spoke About Commander's Strange Order

• 5.09.2023, 9:49

Real Russian aviation’s purpose is disclosed.

The Russian pilot who flew the Mi-8 helicopter to Ukraine, Maxim Kuzminov, spoke about the illogical use of aviation by Russia, citing the example of transporting the commander's cat.

He said this in an online interview with blogger Volodymyr Zolkin, answering a question about cases of irrational use of pilots and aviation.

“Our commander needed to transport his cat... He seems to have some kind of thoroughbred one. Two crews of Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters received the order. Two helicopters transported this magnificent animal from Rostov, let’s say, to Yeysk, Krasnodar region. That is, the Mi-8 is flying and the Mi-24 is circling, covering,” Kuzminov said.

He added that there were three people on board the helicopters at that time, and the flight took about an hour.

“We burned a lot of fuel, equipment resources. Accordingly, the crew is also not always allowed to rest,” Kuzminov said, adding that he was talking about a shortage of pilots.

Earlier, Ukrainian intelligence published papers called Downed Pilots of Russia. There is information about the piloting of a Mi-8 helicopter by the Russian military to Ukraine.

The special operation of the Ukrainian military intelligence had the code name Sinitsa ("Tit"). 28-year-old Russian captain Maxim Kuzminov was a helicopter commander, who served in the 319th Separate Helicopter Regiment of the Russian military aviation - military base #13984 with a permanent deployment in the Primorsky Krai.

In the video, he leaks the details of the operation, noting that he did it because he opposes an aggressive war and does not want to be involved in war crimes.