On June 21, a Russian navy Ka-29 attack helicopter crashed near the Black Sea town of Anapa, suspected to have been hit by the country’s air defense because it was mistaken for a Ukrainian drone. The Russian military announced that they had shot down 70 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and Crimea peninsula, 43 over the Krasnodar region, and one in Volgograd province on the same day.
Russian Telegram channels reported that a Ka-29 attack helicopter crashed near Anapa in the Krasnodar region, with some sources suggesting it was shot down mistakenly by Russian air defense forces. Egor Guzenko, a Russian military reporter, stated that a Pantsir air defense system hit the helicopter while searching for Ukrainian unmanned boats in the Black Sea. If confirmed, this incident would mark the first time Russia has lost a Ka-29 helicopter in over two years of conflict with Ukraine.
Fighterbomber, a Telegram channel of Russian fighter pilots, suggested that Ukraine employed a new tactic of simultaneous attacks with drones and suicide boats to confuse the enemy’s defense system. The Ukrainian army announced raids on Russian oil refineries in Afipsky, Ilsky, Krasnodar, and Astrakhan using drones on the same day. The Ka-29 helicopter is a variant of the Ka-27 line equipped with various weapons and capable of carrying up to 16 people.
