Ukrainian soldiers destroyed a Russian Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter with its crew in the area of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, on 7 February, according to Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s Tavria Grouping of Forces, who reported it on Telegram on 8 February.
The area of the city of Avdiivka northwest of occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine remains the hottest spot of the front, where Russian troops have been executing unceasing ground assaults and fire attacks to encircle and overrun the city for months.
Tarnavskyi says soldiers of one of the mechanized units used a MANPAD to shoot down the Ka-52:
“The enemy’s Alligator with its crew was hit by a MANPAD and fertilized the soil in the Avdiivka sector,” he says.
The Kamov Ka-52 is a twin-seat version of the Soviet-designed Ka-52 attack helicopter with a distinct coaxial rotor system. The Ka-52’s second crew member operates the additional optronics and radar reconnaissance suite, installed on the vehicle.
As per the Military Balance 2022 data, Russia’s Airspace Forces had 133 Ka-52s. The following year’s figures by the Military Ballance 2023 indicated that Russia had approximately 86 Ka-52s in 2023. Meanwhile, researchers of the Oryx blog counted that Russia lost a total of 60 Ka-52 helicopters in Ukraine, based on open-source data.
According to the estimations by the Ukrainian Army’s General Staff, Russia lost 325 helicopters of various types during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine as of 8 February:
“The enemy is focusing its main offensive efforts on the [Zaporizhzhia’s] Novopavlivka, [Donetsk’s] Avdiivka, and [Zaporizhzhia’s] Orikhiv directions,” Tarnavskyi noted.
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