Russian Mi-24 Chases Drone in Leningrad Oblast

A Russian Mi-24 attack helicopter attempted to intercept an unidentified drone in the skies over the Leningrad oblast.

Footage of the incident was posted online.

On February 12, 2024, at around 3:00 p.m., a Russian attack helicopter was spotted intercepting an unknown drone.

The video depicts the helicopter crew closely following the drone but refraining from firing. This is likely due to the drone’s flight over a settlement.

According to the footage, the drone in the video has a conventional aerodynamic design with a straight wing and tailplane.

It is not yet known whether the Russian pilots managed to shoot down the drone.

Previously, Russian forces have used army aviation to counter drones. For example, last year, a Russian Mi-28 intercepted a drone belonging to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine in Crimea.

During the operation, the intelligence agency’s drone managed to ‘escape’ from pursuit and fire from an onboard 30-mm autocannon.

Drones attack oil and gas infrastructure

It is worth noting that the Leningrad Oblast is 800 kilometers away from the Russian-Ukrainian border and has already been targeted by unmanned aerial vehicles several times.

In particular, on the night of January 18, 2024, at about 1:30 a.m., the port infrastructure in St. Petersburg was attacked by Ukrainian-made drones with a flight range of 1,250 kilometers.

At that time, an unknown UAV with a wingspan of 6 meters and a piston engine was carrying a 3 kg warhead.

Later, on January 21, drones attacked the gas tanks of the Novatek terminal in the seaport of Ust-Luga, Leningrad oblast. As a result of the strike, a massive fire broke out on the territory of the enterprise, and the facility was severely damaged.