Attack helicopters win Moscow 'advantage' in southern Ukraine, UK intel concedes amid fresh strikes

Russian attack helicopters have carried out successful air strikes on Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk direction, prompting UK intelligence to concede that Moscow has won the upper hand in the south amid Kiev's heavily publicized counteroffensive.

“The crews of Ka-52 and Mi-28 attack helicopters and Su-25 attack aircraft have inflicted eight missiles and bomb strikes on the accumulation of manpower, weapons and military equipment of the 14th separate mechanized brigade and the 103rd territorial defense brigade [of Ukraine],” a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson declared on Sunday as quoted by Sputnik News.

The spokesperson added that in the course of hostilities in the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces also used a Tornado-S multiple-launch rocket system.

This is while an intelligence update issued Saturday by the British Defense Ministry also conceded that Russia’s use of attack helicopters has given it an “advantage” in southern Ukraine.

Russian troops have reinforced its attack helicopter forces, allowing them to gain “a temporary advantage in southern Ukraine, especially with attack helicopters employing longer-range missiles against ground targets,” it said.

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Sputnik’s report further cited the defense ministry spokesperson as saying that Russian forces had located and destroyed a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group and had thwarted three Ukrainian troop rotation attempts.

Russia has inflicted heavy losses on Ukrainian forces after Kiev launched a media-hyped counter-offensive earlier this month, hoping to cut Russia’s land corridor between Crimea and eastern Donetsk.

Russian helicopters operating close to the front lines have played an effective role in hampering the Ukrainian counter-offensive.

One Ukrainian commander who spoke to The Guardian near the front line in Zaporizhzhia described “constant attacks from helicopters, three or four times a day,” saying his brigade had no effective way to shoot them down from the ground.

Despite Ukraine’s defeat, Russia’s daily sortie rate still remains lower than at the start of the operation in early 2022 when Russia was flying up to 300 missions a day.

Russia, however, has instead increased its use of air-to-surface weapons that allow attack aircraft to remain well away from their targets.

Fighterbomber, a Telegram channel with links to the Russian security services, stated in January post that Russia should deploy its Ka-52 Alligators to destroy the Leopard tanks that Ukraine had just been promised by the West.

“Tanks are easy to kill with army helicopters, especially if there is no air defense. Tanks that Ukraine has been promised are a problem that we will have to solve. And most likely the Ka-52 will solve it,” it added.

Russia launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations.

In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Last week, Russia released video footage showing destroyed German-made Leopard tanks and American-built Bradley armored vehicles hit by Ka-52 army helicopters.

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The Ka-52 twin-pilot helicopter gunship is a modernized version of the Soviet-designed Ka-50 Black Shark and is often compared to the US Apache as a deadly attack helicopter.

It has high maneuverability and can be packed with firepower, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft-guided missiles.

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