Russian Su-35 fighter jet shoots down own Mi-8 helicopter in Voronezh Oblast

The incident occurred Oct. 1 as Russian forces were repelling a large-scale drone attack.

The crew of a Su-35 mistakenly identified a Mi-8 helicopter as a drone and opened fire. The helicopter crashed in the Anninsky district of Russia’s Voronezh Oblast, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Voronezh. The pilot, navigator and door gunner were killed.

The Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber did not directly identify the cause of the incident but described it as “a classic.”

“The cause is a classic one that humanity is unlikely ever to overcome, despite AI, robots, neural networks, friend-or-foe identification systems and other wonders of science and technology. All of them are powerless against His Majesty — the f***ing idiot,” the channel wrote.

Another Russian Telegram channel, Oko Gora, reported that the Mi-8 was at a takeoff site and began taking off after a drone threat was declared, after which it came under fire from the Su-35.

This was not the first time Russia lost a Mi-8 while repelling a Ukrainian drone attack. Overnight on March 4, a Russian military helicopter crashed in the Dudki hamlet in Russia’s Rostov Oblast, about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the Millerovo military airfield.

According to Astra, the Mi-8 was shot down by Russian air defenses before crashing into a local farmer’s barn. All three crew members were killed.