Russian officer given nearly three years in prison for downing Russian helicopter he mistook for Ukrainian drone

A Russian soldier has been sentenced to two years and ten months in prison after mistakenly shooting down a Russian Mi-8 helicopter with an anti-aircraft missile system, believing it to be a Ukrainian drone, Kommersant reports.

The incident took place on December 18, 2023. Igor Pashkov was on duty at a military base in annexed Crimea when he received a report of a “low-flying, slow-moving aerial target.” Due to a series of communication errors, Pashkov concluded the target was a Ukrainian drone and ordered its destruction. The target was, in fact, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter, which crashed into the Black Sea, killing all three crew members on board.

Russia’s Investigative Committee initially charged Pashkov with violating the rules of combat duty, but the charges were later downgraded to negligence. Pashkov pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison term, but the court sentenced him to three years. He was also ordered to pay five million rubles ($48,800) to the Defense Ministry and one million rubles ($9,800) each to the widows of the three pilots. An appeals court later reduced the sentence to two years and ten months.