Helicopter accidentally fires missile at reporters during Russian-Belarusian Zapad 2017 drills
A video from the cabin of the Ka-52 helicopter, which accidentally shot at spectators at the Zapad 2017 exercises in the Leningrad province, has appeared online, published by the Mash telegram channel.
The video shows the helicopter firing unguided C-8 missiles at an area with vehicles. According to 66.ru news website, there were journalists among those injured as a result.
Bloggers from the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) have analyzed the video clip showing the effects of the helicopter strike.
“In the video of the effects of the missile, we see a KAMAZ with a KUNG (presumably a command and staff vehicle) with military code 43 on the license plate. This code indicates that it belongs to the former Leningrad military district, which was disbanded in 2010 and became part of the Western Military District,” the CIT’s Facebook post states.
The Russian Ministry of Defense later confirmed that one of the helicopters had accidentally fired an unguided missile. However, the department denied that anyone was injured as a result.
“The guidance system of one of the helicopters was locked on to the completely wrong target. As a result of being hit by the unguided missile, one of the cargo vehicles with no people inside was damaged,” the Western Military District press service announced.
According to the Defense Ministry, this is the same incident depicted in the video which was circulated on 66.ru. The department did not disclose where or when the accident took place.
The Defense Ministry said that statements claiming that the helicopter fired a volley “at a group of journalists” are “deliberate provocation or someone’s personal stupidity”.
News of the incident, which presumably took place on September 16, only came out three days later. According to provisional information, two people were seriously wounded by the explosion caused by the missile.