Russian Mi-8 pilot Maksim Kuzminov, who defected the Mi-8AMTSh helicopter to Ukraine, was found dead in Spain.

The spokesman of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, said this in his comment for Ukranian Suspilne TV.

“We can confirm the fact of death,” said the Defense Intelligence official.

At the same time, Yusov did not specify the cause of the pilot’s death.

As previously reported, on September 3, 2023, the Chief of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, spoke about the special operation codenamed Synytsia (Titmouse – Ed.), during which a Russian Mi-8AMTSh helicopter with a crew was delivered to Ukraine.

According to Maksim, he “did not just hijack the helicopter, but officially moved it from point A to point B” because the route and landing site in Ukraine had been agreed upon in advance.

Maksim Kuzminov shared that on August 9 at 4:30 p.m., he took off from the Kursk airport and flew in the direction of the Kharkiv region.

He flew at an extremely low altitude of 5-10 meters in radio silence near the village of Shebekino.

While crossing the interstate border, the helicopter was fired upon.

During the final stage of the operation, Maksim Kuzminov was persuading the crew members to surrender to the Ukrainian side.

According to him, the other two crew members got scared, started behaving aggressively, and ran toward the border after the helicopter landed.

As a result of a special operation, two crew members of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Mi-8AMTSh helicopter with tail number 62 were killed, and the helicopter was captured by the Ukrainian Defense Forces.