31.03.2022, Moscow.
Two Ukrainian army helicopters were shot down by DPR forces while attempting to evacuate commanders of the Nazi Azov battalion (organization banned in Russia), Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said at a briefing on March 31.
“One Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by a portable anti-aircraft missile system detachment of the People’s Militia of the Donetsk Republic using a trophy US Stinger system and crashed near the village of Rybatskoye,” the Defense Ministry spokesman said.
According to him, the second downed helicopter fell in the sea 20 km from the coast. Konashenkov said that these helicopters were used by the Ukrainian military to try to evacuate commanders of the Azov battalion (organization banned in Russia) from Mariupol.
On March 31, Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the DPR People’s Militia, said that DPR forces destroyed two helicopters that were heading to Mariupol.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency