Ukrainian forces shoot down another Russian Ka-52 helicopter, this time in Zaporizhzhya Oblast

After Ukrainian troops in the east downed one of Russia’s latest attack helicopters, a Ka-52 “Alligator” near the Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut earlier on Aug. 17, soldiers from the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade shot down another Ka-52 in the south, near the village of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhya Oblast.

The commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk reported the downing of a Ka-52 on the Bakhmut axis on the morning of Aug. 17.

Soon after it was reported that on the southern front, a fire group of the anti-aircraft missile and artillery division had detected an enemy “Alligator” helicopter at about 7.40 a.m. The enemy aircraft was shot down with a single launch from a MANPADS (man-portable air defense system), the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade said in a Facebook post.

“This is already the eighth Ka-52 that has been permanently landed through the actions of our soldiers,” the report says.

“One such helicopter costs $16 million.”

According to the Ukrainian military’s General Staff, since the beginning of the full-scale war against Ukraine, Russia has lost 314 helicopters and 315 warplanes.