Russian forces destroyed their own attack helicopter to keep it from falling into Ukrainian Soldiers’ hands following a massive helicopter paratrooper drop in Hostomel Airport near Kyiv.
The Ka-52 (NATO reporting name Hokum-B) attack helicopter was abandoned after a forced landing on the first day of the war, on February 24th.
The group of Russian Ka-52 and Mi-24 attack helicopters have conducted a tactical landing operation at one of the Ukrainian airfields in North West of Kyiv. One Ka-52 was hit by a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile and made a forced landing.
After landing, the crew was evacuated by a second helicopter and subsequently, technical specialists removed all components and assemblies from the helicopter, and the fuselage itself was mined and blown up to prevent it from falling into the Ukrainian hands.
Photos of the wreckage of this Ka-52 were blasted across social media. The footage showed that the helicopter was completely disintegrated and broken into small pieces, except for some parts.