“Flying low is the goal”: How Kiev’s attack helicopters protect Buckmutt

“The goal is to fly low.”
How Kiev’s attack helicopters protect Bagmut

03/12/2023, 8:25 PM

Ukrainian armed forces are almost surrounded in Bakhmut, but have not given up their positions. To keep the Russians in check, helicopter pilots fly dangerous combat missions every day with outdated equipment. They owe their accuracy to small aircraft.

Three Mi-8 attack helicopters take off from a secret base in Ukraine and head for a target near the city of Bagmut. As the helicopters approach the target, they suddenly right themselves, fire their missiles and fly back to base. The target is “an enemy fortress with ground troops, armored vehicles and an ammunition depot,” says one of the pilots, Pedro, after about 30 minutes of flight. He was stationed near Severodonetsk, a northeastern city of Baghmut that was captured by the Russian army last spring. At Bakmut, the Ukrainian forces are now almost surrounded, but with heavy casualties on both sides, they are holding back.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion a year ago, Ukrainian helicopter pilots have been flying dangerous missions daily in their old Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters. Pilot Pedro has already flown about 50 combat missions at the age of 23. “Before the flight, we use special apps to choose the flight path,” he says. “For example, if we see 180 meters, that’s too high, so we’re looking for places below.” “The goal is to fly low so that we don’t get detected by the Russian radars and they don’t know we’re coming,” says Pedro, his hoodie covering his entire face except for his eyes. We straighten up, then we fire 15 missiles on each side.” Then the helicopter with the pilot and co-pilot returned at a low altitude. The route was different from the external flight – “not to fall into a trap” and, as Petro says, would be attacked by Russian air defenses.

Helicopters are very primitive – drones help with precision

In the front line, infantry units, informed in advance about the timing of the attack, launch the drone. They use this to verify that the target of the attack has been reached. If the target is not hit, corrections are made for another shot. The helicopters’ outdated weapon system does not have a guidance or targeting system. Therefore, it is only accurate within 100 to 200 meters. “At the beginning of the war we didn’t have any drones. The missions were very complicated and less efficient,” says Pedro. However, starting in the summer, they will have drones and other equipment. “We are very effective today.”

Petro’s most difficult mission to date took place on March 6 last year in the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv. “We were a long convoy of four helicopters and targeted military vehicles” that would have been en route to the now Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. “We saw the target two kilometers away. We were told it wasn’t moving, but it was actually moving,” Pedro recalled. Ukrainians were fired upon. “Two of our helicopters were destroyed, the third was damaged, and I was lucky to have the fourth. I wasn’t hit.”

“Once the engine starts, the fear disappears”

For the 23-year-old, “the most difficult thing is preparation, decision-making, how to behave during the flight, which direction to fly to the destination, because you don’t know the terrain before the flight, you can’t be sure about anything,” he explains. But he was not afraid of the attack. “Once you start the machine, the fear disappears because we have trained and we have confidence in ourselves and our results.”

There are many videos of Ukrainian helicopter operations in online media, with the pilots often celebrated as heroes. But Pedro thinks of the players who “suffer more than us, even though they cheer and support us from the ground”. “They are always in position. Even if we take a lot of risk, it doesn’t take much time to complete a task,” says Pedro. “When I see the guys on the ground supporting us, I know why I’m here.”