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| Viral Video of Ukrainians Cheering After Russian Ka-52 Helicopter Shot Down Using MANPADS |
Kherson - A video showing Ukrainians cheering as a Russian helicopter was shot down by Kiev's troops has gone viral online. Ukraine's Southern Operations Command (OCS) confirmed to Ukrinform on Saturday that a Russian Ka-52 "Alligator" helicopter had been shot down over Kherson, a southern region just north of Crimea.
The attack was successfully carried out by one of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft brigades. "On October 22, at around 12:00, in the Berislav district of the Kherson region, a unit of the Odesa anti-aircraft missile brigade of the Southern Air Command shot down a Ka-52 attack helicopter flown by the invaders," the OCS statement said. from Newsweek, Tuesday (15/10/2022).
A Twitter account under the username OSINTtechnical shared the video on Tuesday afternoon that purported to show Ukrainian soldiers shooting down a Russian helicopter with a rocket launcher.
Kherson Oblast, a Ukrainian MANPADS team downs a Russian Ka-52. pic.twitter.com/2sEGm2sx6m
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 24, 2022
While Newsweek could not confirm that the attack in the video was the same as that reported on Saturday, the details shared by the account appear to match the report, including the location and manufacture of the helicopter. The account also says the team that shot down the plane was MANPADS, or portable air defense systems.
The video, which is less than 30 seconds long, begins with several men on an aging street. The man in the center of the frame can be seen firing rockets from the massive weaponry over his shoulder, and the camera quickly moves following the rocket's trajectory to the horizon. After a few seconds, a small flash was seen far in the distance from where the men were standing, indicating that the target had been shot. The boys were seen happily cheering after his successful attack. As of Monday evening, the video had been viewed more than 316,900 times and received nearly 9,000 likes.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported on Monday that two more Ka-52 helicopters had been shot down by Ukrainian forces, between 1:30 and 13:30 local time. Both planes crashed over the Kherson region, making them additional candidates for the plane shot down in the video shared by OSINTtechnical.
"On October 24, from 13:00 to 13:30, units of the Odesa and Kherson anti-aircraft missile brigades of the Southern Air Command of the Air Force shot down two Ka-52 attack helicopters in the Beryslav district of the Kherson region," the Ukrainian Air Force reported. in a Telegram post.