Russians Repurpose Ka-52 Damaged in Ukraine as a Monument

Russians were unable to repair the damaged Ka-52 attack helicopter in Ukraine and decided to turn it into a monument.

The Military Watch reported on this, which also published photos from Russian propagandists linked to the army aviation.

The decommissioned helicopter with tail number 85 “red” was installed on May 20 near the gates of the Syzran Higher Military Aviation School ahead of the celebration of its 85th anniversary.

According to Russian propagandists, this Ka-52 participated in the invasion war against Ukraine and was damaged there. It was then sent to an aviation repair facility, but due to significant damage, it could not be restored.

The aircraft is claimed to have served in the 440th Independent Helicopter Regiment at the Vyazma air base in the Smolensk region.

Currently, it is unknown whether this is the actual tail number of the Ka-52 or if these numbers were chosen symbolically for the anniversary of the aviation school, which trains crews for Russian military helicopters.

It is also unknown whether the loss of this Ka-52 has been included in the statistics or if the Russians managed to conceal its damage during combat operations.

As of today, this is the only monument to the Russian Ka-52 helicopter, which has been in service with the army aviation since 2011.

According to the OSINT project Oryx, Russia has lost at least 50 Ka-52 helicopters, either destroyed or damaged, since the beginning of the invasion, but obtaining precise information is currently impossible.

Recent losses

In March 2025, Ukrainian defenders targeted four Russian helicopters in the Belgorod region using the American HIMARS rocket system.

These were two Ka-52 helicopters and two Mi-8 helicopters, which were discovered during a stop at a field airfield near the village of Ivnya, where they were undergoing maintenance, rearming, and refueling.

In December and November, the Russians reported the loss of one Ka-52 “Alligator” in each month, respectively. In the first case, the crew was killed. In the second case, the navigator survived. There are no details available about the circumstances of these losses.