Russian officer jailed for accidentally shooting down own helicopter

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A Russian military officer was sentenced to almost three years in prison for mistakenly shooting down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter in Crimea, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Wednesday.

The Context

On the morning of October 18, 2023, a Russian combat crew chief told Captain Igor Pashkov, an assistant air defense officer at the time, of a low-flying aerial target near their position in Crimea, according to Kommersant, which cited court documents in its report.

The crew chief later informed Pashkov that the target appeared to be a helicopter traveling at a low speed, but Pashkov reportedly did not believe the assessment and could not find evidence of a friendly aircraft in the area.

Minutes later, a missile was fired from a Russian Tor-M2DT anti-aircraft missile system, destroying the target. The report did not state if Pashkov received or issued the orders to shoot down the target, which was later identified to be a Russian Mi-8 helicopter.

Three crew members aboard the Mi-8 were killed in the incident.

In this handout image supplied by Host photo agency/RIA Novosti, a Mi-8 helicopter is seen during a rehearsal for a military parade on May 7, 2015, in Baltiysk, Russia. A Russian military officer was sentenced…


Photo by Host photo agency / RIA Novosti via Getty Images

According to Kommersant, Pashkov had mistaken the helicopter for a Ukrainian drone. He turned himself in to authorities in May and admitted he could have made a “fatal mistake,” per Kommersant.

What To Know

Pashkov pleaded guilty to negligence charges and was sentenced to two years and 10 months in a penal colony. He had originally been sentenced to three years by a military court in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, but a higher court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don reduced the term by two months. Prosecutors had argued for a more severe prison term of seven years.

He was also ordered to pay five million rubles ($48,600) to the Russian Defense Ministry, as well as one million rubles ($9,700) each to the widows of the three lost crew members. However, the court decided not to fine him almost 200 million rubles ($1.9 million) for the cost of the destroyed helicopter.

Along with his prison sentence, Pashkov is banned from holding certain positions in the civil service or local government for one year.

In deciding Pashkov’s sentence, the court reportedly factored in how he expressed remorse for the act and took actions to make amends, as well as Pashkov being the recipient of a state award and having a dependent son with a disability.

What’s Next

According to Kommersant, Pashkov will report to the penal colony on his own to serve his sentence of two years and ten months.

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