A Russian Mi-8 military helicopter violated Ukrainian airspace over the Sumy region.
According to Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsaplienko, the military helicopter made the airspace violation on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the Sumy region.
Andriy Tsaplienko also released a short video showing a Russian Hip medium-lift helicopter that flew into Ukrainian airspace at an altitude of 100 meters near Krasnopillya.
Russian military aircraft and helicopters regularly briefly invade Ukrainian airspace, thereby provoking tensions in the region.
The Mil Mi-8 is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, and now produced by Russia. In addition to its most common role as a transport helicopter, the Mi-8 is also used as an airborne command post, armed gunship, and reconnaissance platform.
Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) said on March 16 it had prevented a large-scale cyberattack by Russian hackers targeting classified government data.
Kyiv has previously accused Moscow of orchestrating large cyberattacks as part of a “hybrid war” against Ukraine, but Russia denies this. The FSB did not immediately comment on the latest accusation.
Currently, the two countries are engaged in the Russo-Ukrainian War which started in 2014 following the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Relations between the two countries have severely fallen apart since the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, and over Russia’s backing for the separatists fighters of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic in a war that by early 2020 had killed more than 13,000 people and brought Western sanctions on Russia.
