List of Russian aircraft losses in the Second Chechen War

The following is an incomplete list of Russian aircraft losses in the Second Chechen War . It includes both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.

The general Russian aircraft losses 1999–2007 consisted of about 45 helicopters (23 Mi-8, 16 Mi-24, three Mi-26 and three others ^[1] ) and 8 fixed-wing aircraft (two Su-24 fighter-bombers and six Su-25 ground-attack aircraft).

1999

• August 9, 2 Mi-8 helicopters were hit, on the ground at Botlikh airfield, Dagestan, by anti-tank guided missiles, one killed.

In a different accident on the same day a Russian border guard's Mi-8 suffered tail separation on take-off in Dagestan. Three crew members were injured – status unknown.

• August 11, an Mi-8MT shot down by gunfire near the village of Novokuli, killing three.
• September 9, a Su-25 crashed near the village of Buinaksk in Dagestan, due to mechanical malfunction. Pilot ejected and rescued.
• September 11, a Russian military helicopter shot down near the Dagestani village of Duchi while on a reconnaissance mission. ^[2]
• September 24, an Mi-26 heavy transport helicopter crash-landed and exploded in Dagestan with no reported casualties.
• October 3, a Su-25 was shot down by a missile during a reconnaissance mission over the village of Tolstoy-Yurt killing its pilot.
• October 4, a Su-24 shot down near the Chechen capital Grozny while searching for the Su-25 attack plane crashed the day before; the pilot was killed while the navigator was captured. ^[3]
• December 13, a Su-25 ground attack plane went down in the morning in the area of Bachi-Yurt. Russian military officials said that the aircraft went down due to one of its S-13 unguided rockets jamming in the launcher and causing serious damage to the plane. The pilot, Sergei Borisyuk, ejected safely and was rescued after 26 hours.
• Later in the same day a Mi-24 and a Mi-8 were destroyed while searching for the Su-25 plane that crashed earlier. The Mi-24 crashed in heavy fog killing two crew members. A Mi-8 was able to locate and pickup the pilot of the Su-25, however two Mi-8s returned to the Mi-24's crash site and were attacked by Chechen rebels near the village of Staryye Atagi, while carrying out a low altitude flight. One of the Mi-8s was shot down and crashed, killing four people on board.

2000

• January 12, two Mi-8 pilots, including the Hero of the Soviet Union Nikolay Maidanov, killed in an ambush as they prepared to land at Grozny Khankala airfield; the helicopter crash-landed by the flight technician.
• January 22, one Mi-8 helicopter suffered mechanical malfunction and crash-landed; no casualties. Another Mi-8 suffered mechanical malfunction and crash-landed; several injured.
• January 29, two Russian Mi-8 transport helicopters came under fire over southern Chechnya, killing one man and severely wounding another.
• February 18, a Russian army Mi-8 transport helicopter was shot down in the south of Chechnya, killing 15 people aboard. ^[4]
• February 21, an Mi-24 assault helicopter was heavily damaged by ground fire near Shatoi and crash-landed; no casualties.
• May 7, a Su-24MR reconnaissance plane crashed into a mountain in dense fog near the village of Benoi-Vedeno during a target-acquisition mission for a flight of several Su-25; the crew of two were killed.
• May 14, an Mi-8 crashed on take-off due to a technical problem; 15 people on board were injured.
• June 12, a Russian army transport helicopter crashed near Grozny, killing the crew of four.
• August 6, an Mi-8 downed by ground fire, killing one airborne soldier.

2001

• May 31, an Mi-8 with 15 passengers aboard damaged by ground fire; pilot died from wounds after landing the damaged helicopter.
• June 1, two members of the State Duma's defence committee Alexei Arbatov and Yevgeny Zelenov injured in an attack near the border with Chechnya; the pilot of the helicopter was fatally wounded, and the co-pilot was forced to make an emergency landing. ^[5]
• June 14, two Russian Air Force Su-25 planes simultaneously crashed into a mountain while on a combat mission, killing both pilots. The two aircraft crashed due to low visibility and difficult terrain.
• June 14, one Mi-8 heavily damaged by ground fire and made emergency landing; crew unharmed.
• July 19, a Russian Interior Ministry helicopter crashes near Engenoi, killing nine special forces troops and wounding five. ^[6]
• August 4, an Mi-8 transport helicopter crashes near the village of Tuskhoroi in Chechnya, killing three and injuring five.
• August 15, a Mi-25 gunship shot down by an RPG near Tsa Vedeno, killing both pilots. ^[7]
• August 17, Chechen fighters claim to shoot down a helicopter, a claim denied by Russian officials. ^{[8] [9]}
• September 2, Russian military helicopter Mi-8 crashed down near the Chechen village of Khindoy, killing four Russian service men and wounding two.
• September 17, a surface-to-air missile shot down a VIP Mi-8 helicopter over central Grozny killing 13. The explosion killed several high-ranking Army officers, Major-General Anatoli Pozdnyakov (member of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces), Major-General Pavel Varfolomeyev (deputy director of staff of the Defence Ministry of Russia), eight colonels, and three crew members. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

2002

• January 27, a Russian Interior Ministry Mi-8 was shot down in Nadterechny District and exploded, killing 14 people including the crew. Among those killed in the crash were Russian Deputy Interior Minister Lieutenant-General Mikhail Rudchenko (responsible for security in the Southern Federal District), and deputy commander of the Internal Troops Major-General Nikolai Goridov, as well as several other high-ranking officers including Colonels Oriyenko, Stepanenko, and Trafimov. ^[13]
• February 7, a Russian military helicopter crashed and exploded shortly after take-off from Grozny, killing eight to 10 people aboard. ^[14]
• April 29, a Russian Su-25 jet fighter crashed over the Vedeno region of southeast Chechnya, killing the pilot. ^[15]
• August 9, the rebels shot down an Mi-8 military helicopter near the village of Dyshne-Vedeno, killing up to three crew members. ^[16]
• August 19, an overloaded Mi-26 transport helicopter crashes into a mine field near the main Russian army base of Khankala, killing 127 soldiers aboard after being hit by a rebel missile. As of 2008, is the greatest loss of life in the history of helicopter aviation. ^{[17] [18]} A day of mourning was declared in Russia in connection with the catastrophe. ^[19]
• August 31, Russian forces announced that an Mi-24 was shot down by enemy fire near Nozhai-Yurt, killing both crew members, as the 36th helicopter lost since September 1999. ^[20]
• October 18, a military helicopter crashed into the Terek river in Chechnya, killing at least one. ^[21]
• October 29, an Mi-8 helicopter crashed during an attempted landing near Grozny, killing three crew members and an onboard officer. ^[22]
• September 1, a Russian military Mi-24 helicopter was shot down by a missile near the mountain village of Meskhety, with both crew members killed. ^[23]
• September 27, an Mi-24 gunship helicopter was shot down over Galashki in Ingushetia during a fierce firefight with rebels, killing two airmen. ^[24]
• November 3, Chechen rebels shot down an Mi-8, killing nine servicemen. The helicopter was struck by a portable ground-to-air missile fired from a building near Grozny shortly after its take-off from Khankala.

2003

• March 20, two Mi-24 went missing during a combat mission in Chechnya. ^[25]
• July 7, an Mi-8 military helicopter crashed outside the village of Oyskhara, killing four and injuring 11 servicemen.
• August 7, an Mi-8 helicopter came under fire from the ground and crashed in the area of the Dyshne-Vedeno, killing one and seriously injuring two. ^[26]

2004

• September 5, an Mi-8 belonging to the MVD was found crashed into a mountain near the Ingush village of Karabulak, killing two and injuring one.
• September 14, Chechen rebels shot down an Mi-24 helicopter, both crew members survived and landed safely. ^[27]

2005

• March 10, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter crashes en route to Khankala, after hitting a power line (bullet holes were later reportedly found in the wreckage. ^[28] ). The crash killed 15 of the 16 people aboard, including members of the spetsnaz commando unit, Khabarovsk FSB, and the crew, ^[29]
• March 22, a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter crashed near Khankala, with some reports saying six people on board were killed. ^[30]
• July 16, a Russian border guard Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Chechen mountains, resulting in eight dead, with one survivor. ^[31]

2006

• September 11, three army generals, including chief of logistics of Russia's North Caucasus Military District, Major-General Vladimir Sorokin, died when an army Mi-8 crashed in a suburb of Vladikavkaz, killing at least 12. A North Ossetian Islamic rebel group claimed they shot down the helicopter, but the defence ministry say the aircraft struck a tree in thick fog. ^[32]

2007

• April 27, a Russian military Mi-8 helicopter was downed by automatic rifle fire in Chechnya, killing all 20 people aboard.^{[ citation needed ]}

See also

• 2001 Grozny Mi-8 crash
• 2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash
• 2002 Shelkovskaya Mi-8 crash
• 2007 Shatoy Mi-8 crash

References

1. (in Russian) "Игла" в стоге сена
2. "BBC News | Europe | Russian helicopter downed in Dagestan". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
3. "War in Chechnya - Russian AF losses". Archived from the original on 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
4. "BBC News | EUROPE | Russians say Chechens down helicopter". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
5. "BBC News | EUROPE | MPs hit in Chechen helicopter attack". news.bbc.co.uk. June 2001. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
6. "BBC News | EUROPE | Chechnya helicopter crash kills nine". news.bbc.co.uk. 20 July 2001. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
7. "BBC News | EUROPE | Chechens down Russian helicopter". news.bbc.co.uk. 16 August 2001. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
8. "Prague Watchdog - Crisis in Chechnya - August 2001". watchdog.cz. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
9. "Russia's whistle blower | World news | The Guardian". guardian.co.uk. 16 March 2002. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
10. Tyler, Patrick E. (28 January 2002). "Russian Officers Are Killed in Helicopter Crash in Chechnya - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
11. "BBC News | EUROPE | Top Russians die in Chechnya crash". news.bbc.co.uk. 28 January 2002. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
12. "Газета.Ru - Chechen gang targeting generals eliminated". gazeta.ru. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
13. "Programs | The Jamestown Foundation | INTERIOR MINISTRY HELIOCOPTER CRASHES". jamestown.org. Archived from the original on 2006-09-19. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
14. "BBC News | EUROPE | Russian helicopter crashes in Chechnya". news.bbc.co.uk. 7 February 2002. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
15. "BBC News | EUROPE | Chechnya jet crashes: pilot dead". news.bbc.co.uk. 29 April 2002. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
16. "Prague Watchdog - Crisis in Chechnya - Chechen guerrillas attack the federal army in Chechnya and Ingushetia". watchdog.cz. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
17. "100 die as Russian helicopter crashes in Chechnya - smh.com.au". smh.com.au. 21 August 2002. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
18. "Chechen gets life for killing 127 Russian soldiers | World news | The Guardian". guardian.co.uk. 30 April 2004. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
19. "BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Russia to mourn helicopter dead". news.bbc.co.uk. 21 August 2002. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
20. "BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Helicopter downed in Chechnya". news.bbc.co.uk. 31 August 2002. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
21. Helicopter Crashes in Chechnya, One Dead
22. "BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Russian helicopter 'downed' in Chechnya". news.bbc.co.uk. 29 October 2002. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
23. "Russian Military Helicopter Shot Down in Chechnya". english.people.com.cn. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
24. Helicopter Shot Down in Ingushetia
25. "BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Russian helicopters 'lost' in Chechnya". news.bbc.co.uk. 20 March 2003. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
26. "BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Helicopter crashes in Chechnya". news.bbc.co.uk. 8 August 2003. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
27. Rebels Down Chopper, 2 Killed
28. "Programs | The Jamestown Foundation | INVESTIGATORS FIND BULLET HOLES IN DOWNED CHOPPER". jamestown.org. Archived from the original on 2008-01-12. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
29. "Helicopter crash in Chechnya kills 14 Russian military men - PravdaReport". english.pravda.ru. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
30. "BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Russian chopper down in Chechnya". news.bbc.co.uk. 22 March 2005. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
31. "Helicopter crash in Chechnya kills 8; possibly shot down - Taipei Times". taipeitimes.com. 18 July 2005. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
32. "BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Rebels 'shot Russian helicopter'". news.bbc.co.uk. 13 September 2006. Retrieved 2016-09-07.

• Russian AF losses; last updated Monday, September 17, 2001