A helicopter fires on a drone in a video posted on September 1, 2023, by Ukraine Defence Intelligence.
YouTube/@Defence Intelligence of Ukraine
A Ukrainian drone escaped attacks by 2 Russian helicopters and a jet, Ukraine says.
Footage showed the drone being pursued, but Ukraine said it made it back to base.
Ukrainian drones have multiplied attacks in Russian and Russian-occupied territory in recent weeks.
Ukraine says two Russian helicopters and a jet failed to shoot down a Ukrainian drone flying above Crimea, sharing a video of a helicopter missing its target.
The undated footage, released Friday by Ukraine’s defense-intelligence agency, shows a helicopter trying to target the drone, appearing to fire several times.
Ukraine did not specify the type of drone — though from the camera footage it appeared to be a fixed-wing drone with a propeller.
It said that a second helicopter and a plane also tried to attack the drone, but these did not appear in the footage.
A Facebook post gave some more details, saying that the video was filmed around Cape Tarkhankut, in Russian-occupied Crimea.
That post said the drone made it back to base successfully despite being fired upon continuously — though it didn’t give details of exactly how long the pursuit lasted.
Drone warfare has been a hallmark of the war in Ukraine, though it’s unusual to see drones in direct confrontation with traditional air power like planes or helicopters.
A Ukrainian drone strike earlier this week damaged four transport planes that were grounded at the Pskov airfield within Russia, a military spokesperson told Reuters.
As Insider’s Sinéad Baker reported, attacks like these are a sign that Russia’s defenses are not working.