Russian helicopter explodes and crashes after being struck by missile

Direct hit: Moment Russian helicopter explodes and crashes to the ground ‘after being struck by a British-made Starstreak missile’ over Ukraine

  • One of Putin’s top commanders onboard was killed, defence sources claimed

This is the incredible moment a British-made Starstreak missile destroyed a Russian helicopter flying over Ukraine.

Dramatic video shows the Ka-52 Alligator plummeting to the ground after it was directly struck by the surface-to-air missile.

The helicopter blades are still spinning for a few seconds after the rocket shoots through the body of the aircraft, causing an explosion, with a thick plume of smoke visible as it falls through the sky.

The helicopter then crashes and bursts into flames.

One of Putin’s top commanders onboard the aircraft was killed, defence sources have claimed. 


Dramatic video shows the Ka-52 Alligator plummeting to the floor in Ukraine after it was directly struck by the surface-to-air missile. The helicopter blades are still spinning for a few seconds after the rocket shoots through the body of the aircraft

The rockets were reportedly fired from a Stormer light tank donated last year, according to Russian defence sources.

An image released by Ukraine’s Marines purportedly showed the wreckage on the ground in frontline eastern Donbas. 

The Ka-52 Alligator was struck near Donetsk, Kyiv said.

The 38th Separate Marine Brigade wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday: ‘Today at 7:43 an enemy Ka-52 was destroyed by our brigade’s MANPADS system. 

‘Glory to the marines of Ukraine!’

The Starstreak High Velocity Missile is designed to counter threats from high-performance, low-flying aircraft and helicopters.

The missile can travel at more than three times the speed of sound and uses three dart-like projectiles, allowing multiple strikes on a target.

It can be fired from the shoulder, a lightweight multiple launcher or from the Stormer armoured vehicle. 

The Ka-52 Alligator is an all-weather attack helicopter operated by the Russian Air Force. 

It is a highly manoeuvrable helicopter that can destroy enemy armoured and unarmoured ground targets, tanks, low-speed aerial targets and personnel at the frontline and in tactical depth. 

Russia has lost at least 35 Ka-52 Alligators since February last year, according to intelligence defence analysis website Oryx.


A thick plume of smoke is visible after the explosion. The helicopter then crashes into the ground and exploded into flames

The Ka-52 Alligator is an all-weather attack helicopter operated by the Russian Air Force (File Photo)

Last month, Colonel Yuriy Ignat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, downplayed the threat from Russian attack helicopters during the counter-offensive.

‘The Ka-52 is absolutely not a helicopter that establishes air superiority,’ Ignat said.

He also argued it did not it deliver ‘the kind of firepower that is decisive on the battlefield’.

He said a bigger aviation threat to Ukraine’s forces came from Russian fighter jets that have more powerful radars and longer-range missiles than Ukraine’s older Soviet-built aircraft. 

A leaked German intelligence document claims Ukraine’s counter-offensive is failing to make meaningful progress as the army is not fully harnessing western training.

The confidential insight obtained by Bild assessed that Ukrainian soldiers trained by western forces are showing ‘great learning success’ but let down by superiors.

It warned the military tends to promote soldiers with fighting experience over those with NATO training, meaning some have ‘considerable deficiencies in leadership’.

It also remarked on ‘deficiencies’ in ‘the application of management processes… which sometimes lead to incorrect and dangerous decisions’.

 A Stormer vehicle firing a Starstreak High Velocity Missile on Ex Javelin (File Photo)

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday that Ukraine’s counter-offensive is ‘not a stalemate’ even if it is not progressing fast enough.

Kirby made the remarks when asked about the pace of the counter-offensive.

‘President Zelensky himself has said that he that it’s not progressing as fast as he would like and they’re not moving as far every day as they would like. The United States is not going to take a position on that,’ Kirby said.

He added: ‘That said they are moving, it’s not a stalemate. They’re not just frozen. The Ukrainians are moving.’

The White House national security spokesman said Washington would ‘make sure that they [Ukrainians] have the kinds of tools and capabilities they need to stay on the move.’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that while Ukraine has recaptured half the territory that Russia initially seized in its invasion, the counter-offensive was in its early days and would take shape over ‘several months’.

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