Ukraine Allegedly Targets Putin's Helicopter Mid-Flight

Gulf Insider

7 days ago

The Kremlin as well as Russian state media are alleging a huge, potentially conflict-altering incident which will surely escalate the war in Ukraine – an attempted attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.
A high-ranking Russian military commander on Sunday described that last week, as Putin traveled to the Kursk region for the first time since is liberation after 6+ months of Ukrainian occupation, Ukraine tried to attack Putin's helicopter mid-flight, sending a wave of drones to swarm the flight path of the chopper.
The presidential helicopter was caught in the 'epicenter' of a massive Ukrainian drone attack, commander of an air defense division in Kursk, Yury Dashkin, told Russian media. The headline is the top featured story of English-language RT on Sunday, something which suggests the allegations are largely aimed at grabbing the attention of the West.
The incident is said to have happened Tuesday as the helicopter transported Putin to tour Kursk – a southern oblast which has suffered much destruction since the initial Ukrainian cross-border incursion of last August.
Commander Yury Dashkin told Russia 1 in an interview which aired Sunday said that Putin's helicopter had found itself 'in the epicenter of an operation to repel a massive drone attack by the enemy' in Kursk Region.
He went on to describe that this 'unprecedented' attack was successfully repelled by anti-air defenses in the region. Air defense units in the area had to 'simultaneously conduct anti-aircraft combat and ensure the safety of the president's helicopter in the air. The task was accomplished,' Dashkin stated. 'The attack of the enemy drones was repelled, with all aerial targets being hit.'
While this could just be a mid-level officer's attempt to toot his own horn, given the world is just hearing about what's tantamount to an 'assassination attempt' on one of the world's most powerful leaders being alleged – and coming belatedly a number of days after the incident in question – this seems part of Moscow's ongoing messaging that the UAV incursions are an attempt to derail the US-brokered peace talks between Moscow and Kiev.
Ukraine tried to ATTACK Putin's helicopter mid-flight over KurskRussian Air Defense Division officer says Ukrainian drones attempted to swarm chopper flight pathRussian air defenses scrambled — worked perfectly and repelled the strike pic.twitter.com/BDmmrLMyvU — RT (@RT_com) May 25, 2025
The drones are being launched on Russia in record numbers, with literally multiple hundreds sent over the past week, in some cases halting inbound and outbound flights at major airports, including in the Moscow area. Ukrainian officials have boasted that the operations is trying to disrupt and destabilize daily life in Russia, in hopes that the government could lose control.
Significantly, Russia's military pummeled the Ukrainian capital of Kiev again overnight, with emerging images showing raging fires and devastation in city neighborhoods and populated areas. Other regions were hit as well, in a second straight night of some of the largest strikes of the war.
Also Read : Putin Isn't Ready To End War In Ukraine, Trump Told Allies In Private