Ukrainian military pilots made risky flights to besieged Mariupol, delivering ammunition and necessary equipment.

This was reported by Dnipro Operative which released a video capturing one of these missions.

16 Mi-8 military helicopters loaded with the necessary equipment were flying toward the defenders of Mariupol, which were blocked by the Russian invaders.

There were a total of seven such missions. Each time, helicopters had successfully delivered to a depth of more than 100 kilometers items needed to continue the resistance: food, drinking water, medicine, and ammunition for the defenders of the city.

During one of the missions, to strengthen the garrison, 72 soldiers of the Azov Regiment were transported there.

Previously, information about the secret missions of Ukrainian pilots into besieged Mariupol was confirmed by Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

Ukrainian pilots were able to overcome the Russian-organized air defense system around the city.

Each of the crews made 2 to 4 flights during the mission. The Russians had shot down two helicopters.

Another helicopter was destroyed coming to the rescue of one of the downed crews.

On May 20, 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi shared in an interview on the occasion of the third anniversary of his inauguration that many pilots delivering food to Mariupol had died.

“Absolutely heroic people who knew that it would be difficult, that it was almost impossible to fly to Azovstal and bring them medicine, food, water, pick up the bodies and the wounded. It all happened. A lot of things were happening that no one could officially comment on. As there were no air corridors to Azovstal due to the powerful Russian-deployed air defense,” the President said.

Kyrylo Budanov did not report the exact number of losses among Ukrainian pilots.