JUST IN: Troops Killed As Two Military Helicopters Crashes (DETAILS)
On a combat mission in the country’s east, two military chopper crashes claimed the lives of six Ukrainian soldiers, according to state investigators on Thursday.
The collisions happened on Tuesday in the eastern Donetsk region’s Kramatorsk district. The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) withheld specific information on what transpired.
“Two Mi-8 military helicopters crashed during a combat mission. Six servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine died,” the SBI said in a statement.
It stated that potential safety violations during or prior to the flight, which would be classified as a criminal crime, would be the primary focus of a pre-trial investigation by the Security Intelligence Service.
According to the SBI, the investigation would also look into “possible enemy sabotage or destruction of the helicopters.”
Investigators would look into flight recorder data and assess the technical status of the helicopters, according to the statement.
Ukraine employs the Soviet-designed Mi-8 military helicopters for combat missions, despite the fact that they are more frequently utilised for transport. Three people make up each helicopter’s crew.
Although the Mi-8 helicopters Ukraine now uses are decades old, allies have donated more recent attack helicopters to Ukraine.
