David vs. Goliath: $800 Ukrainian drone destroys $7 million Russian helicopter

Activity on the front lines of the disputed city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine is once again dominated, for yet another day, by the movement of drones, which have become the main protagonists of the war. An unusual event is about to take place. A small kamikaze unmanned aircraft takes off from Ukrainian positions, equipped not only with an explosive charge but also with a camera that allows its flight path to be observed in real time. Shortly afterward, it encounters a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter, which the Ukrainian pilot manages to hit. Almost immediately, the enemy aircraft plummets to the ground in a fiery mess. With actions like these, the Ukrainian army is trying to maintain its positions despite the diplomatic vicissitudes surrounding the conflict, with Kyiv once again under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to give in to Russia at the negotiating table.

Baltika (a military nom de guerre), the 27-year-old pilot and architect of the attack, explains to EL PAÍS by phone from his position how he succeeded in downing the helicopter: “We had already tried several times. The last time was just a few days before. That morning, we launched the FPV [first-person view] drone, not specifically to shoot down the helicopter, but to search for any other targets. At first, we saw a Ka-52 [another type of Russian helicopter], but its speed was too much, and our FPV couldn’t reach it. As we turned around, we came across the Mi-8. Very, very lucky [...] We remained calm, focused on our job. We saw the drone approaching [the Russian aircraft], and the image disappeared” at the moment of impact, he says, referring to an attack that occurred on September 29.

The images, recorded by several Ukrainian surveillance drones flying in the same area, then went viral, and congratulations poured in for the feat, including from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Almost as important as shooting down the helicopter was obtaining detailed videos of the attack, which delighted Ukrainian troops and were widely reported by the media.

This Ukrainian David taking down the Russian Goliath offers a small reason for optimism and euphoria, which, as the Ukrainian military themselves acknowledge, should not lead them to forget that they are facing one of the most complicated and fiercely contested scenarios of the conflict. Tanks and other military vehicles have been losing ground, and their space is being occupied by drones from both sides in an ever-expanding combat zone. Towns near the line of contact between the two armies, such as Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, and Kostyantynivka, are under constant threat from such aircraft. A few days ago, a small drone killed French reporter Antoni Lallican, who was at least 12 miles from the front.

Baltika and his colleagues confirmed their suspicions of the downing a few seconds after impact, thanks to the transmissions from the other surveillance drones. The screens show the helicopter, first moving forward in flames, and then, on the ground, the burning wreckage and even the body of one of the crew, also engulfed in flames, a few dozen meters away. “We were happy, shouting, laughing, and congratulating each other,” Baltika recounts three days after the attack.

“We haven’t seen any helicopters take off since then,” he adds somewhat sarcastically. To successfully bring down the helicopter with the small drone, which is approximately half a meter long, they explain that several conditions must be met, such as the speed of both aircraft and the absence of rain or strong winds.

Ukrainian military authorities have not been able to confirm the number of soldiers traveling in the helicopter. Maxim (who did not give his last name), commander of the Air Predators battalion within the 59th Brigade and the drone pilot’s superior officer, believes there were at least three or four soldiers on board, and that none survived. Sitting in his office, the 31-year-old highlights the fact that a drone worth around $800 was able to destroy a helicopter valued at no less than $7 million. Both he and Baltika insist that this is the first documented case of the Ukrainian military managing to completely destroy an enemy helicopter in this way.

The new reality is that Ukraine already produces millions of drones a year, of all types and ranges, and that the price of a missile to shoot down an aircraft such as an Mi-8 can reach around €1 million ($1.16 million) per unit. Hence, Zelenskiy’s desire to exchange drones with Trump for long-range Tomahawk missiles.

Typically, drone units manage to hit other types of targets, such as vehicles, warehouses, homes, or even rocket launchers. But never before have they achieved anything like this, says Maxim proudly, who estimates that the drone must have directly hit the fuel tank. “I wasn’t at the command post at the time of the attack. I usually tell my pilots that they have orders to hit at least one Russian vehicle every day. That day, they told me via message that they hadn’t hit any, but… that they had shot down a helicopter,” he recalls.

“Are you joking?” I asked. “At that moment, I realized this was an extraordinary attack, and I went into shock…” he continues. “My feelings were similar to what I felt when we liberated Kherson (at the end of 2022), also with the 59th Brigade. This is a great motivation for everyone. For a few moments, we forgot about our problems, our fatigue… This was a new page in this war for us,” he says with a smile. He shows the attack on his cell phone screen several times. He gloats, pausing the video just before impact, when one of the Russian soldiers can be seen, with the helicopter door open, helplessly watching the FPV drone arrive.

The attack on September 29 took place between the Russian-controlled towns of Nadiivka and Kotlyarivka, southwest of the disputed city of Pokrovsk. The FPV drone took off from a distance of about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles), a common distance for this type of operation. “We have proven that these achievements are possible. I understand that it can’t be done frequently, but I also hope it won’t be the last time. It was a dream come true,” Maxim says.

The elimination of the Russian Mi-8 is, however, only a small chapter in the battle raging in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russian troops control around 70% of the area. Part of the territory around Pokrovsk, occupied by the Russians in August, has been liberated, and many of the remaining invading troops in this area are blocked and surrounded, but the fighting remains difficult, according to the drone battalion commander.

Russian sources acknowledge on Telegram channels, with information from military personnel on the ground, that their men are barely able to move in small groups beyond skirmishes on foot or on motorcycles, and that the logistics of maintaining their positions are difficult to sustain. Despite all this, they manage to maintain pressure on towns like Dobropillya, from whose outskirts the Ukrainian army is trying to hold back the invading troops at a time of year, autumn, when the cold and rain will soon make combat conditions even more difficult.

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