Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Sunday, sharing footage of the incident.
The helicopter was reportedly headed toward the village of Kozinki, located in Russia’s Belgorod Region, close to the border with Ukraine.
Drone footage released by the Russian military shows the burning debris of the chopper after it was shot down near the settlement of Lukashovka using a Verba man-portable air-defense system.
The past week has seen a major escalation on the Russia-Ukraine border, with Kiev’s forces intensifying artillery and drone strikes on Russia and staging multiple attempts to breach the Kursk and Belgorod regions. Authorities in the Moscow, Krasnodar, Kaluga, Oryol, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Kursk and Belgorod regions reported that multiple drones have been shot down over the weekend. No casualties or major damage on the ground was detected.
The escalation came ahead of the 2024 Russian presidential election, which kicked off on Friday and is due to end later today.