- The Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with a helicopter final month is now serving to Ukraine combat Russia.
- Maksym Kuzminov is offering Russian aviation intelligence to Ukraine.
- Kuzminov was rewarded with $500,000 and he and his mother and father are protected in Ukraine.
The Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with a Mi-8 helicopter final month is arming Ukraine with extra than simply army tools.
Maksym Kuzminov, the helicopter pilot who switched sides in a daring defection, is now offering the Ukrainian army with key Russian aviation intelligence, in line with an interview with Kuzminov launched by the Protection Intelligence of Ukraine.
Kuzminov is sharing details about Russia’s communication programs and airfields community with Ukraine’s intelligence service, the company stated.
The interview with Kuzminov, through which he publicly mentioned his defection for the primary time, was included in a one-hour documentary titled “Downed Russian Pilots” that was uploaded to YouTube by Ukraine’s protection intelligence earlier this month.
“By this well-planned and managed mission, we managed to trigger quite a lot of delicate and surprising hurt to the Russian Airspace army forces,” Artem Shevchenko, a army journalist who narrated the documentary, stated.
Information of Kuzminov’s defection was first made public in late August, however the side-switching itself culminated in a tense showdown in a Kharkiv airfield on August 9.
Kuzminov first reached out to Ukraine’s Protection Intelligence on the finish of 2022, jumpstarting a plan for him to flee Russia together with his helicopter. After months of planning, which included the elimination of Kuzminov’s mother and father from Russia to Ukraine, he lastly made his transfer in August, flying the helicopter at a low altitude in radio silence mode throughout the border and into Ukrainian territory.
Two different crew members have been on board who weren’t conscious of the defection and after they tried to flee they have been “eradicated,” Ukrainian officers informed Radio Free Europe in August.
Ukraine’s protection intelligence stated within the documentary that Kuzminov was injured within the ultimate stage of the defection however was rapidly handled with medical help.
Footage within the documentary reveals the Mi-8 helicopter sitting in a big grass subject as Ukrainian service members circle the plane and look inside. One picture reveals two Ukrainian troopers standing in entrance of the helicopter with their thumbs up.
After Kuzminov landed within the Kharkiv area, the helicopter was ultimately moved to safer territory, Ukraine’s protection intelligence stated.
The 2016 Mi-8 AMTSh hails from Russia’s 319 separate helicopter regiment primarily based within the Primorsky Area. The plane shall be used to “replenish” Ukraine’s army fleet, the protection intelligence stated.
Kuzminov and his household are presently protected in Ukraine. The pilot was rewarded with $500,000 for defecting together with his helicopter after the Ukrainian authorities final yr carried out a program that incentivizes Russian army members to defect with their tools in alternate for hefty financial rewards.
In his interview, Kuzminov stated he defected to keep away from being complicit in Russia’s “crimes” and inspired different Russian service members to observe his lead and defect.
“Ukraine goes to win this struggle, that is for sure,” Kuzminov stated. “As a result of Ukrainian nation has united tremendously.”
Andrii Yusov, an official with Ukraine’s Protection Intelligence, informed Radio Svoboda this week that there was a 70% day by day uptick in calls to a state-run defection hotline since Kuzminov’s defection was made public.
