At the crossing of the Russian-Ukrainian border during the operation of the "Synytsia" air defense system, someone opened fire on the Mi-8 helicopter, then the pilot Maksim Kuzminov received a gunshot wound to the leg. According to the pilot, the Russians were shooting.
Russian pilot Maksim Kuzminov said this at a joint press conference with GUR.
Kuzminov said that on August 9, at 4:30 p.m., he took off from the Kursk airfield in the Shebekino area. He flew at an extremely low altitude of 5-10 meters and in radio silence mode.
According to the pilot, he and the crew did not have weapons with them. No one resisted the flight across the border, as the navigator did not know how to pilot. After being wounded, the pilot flew 20 kilometers from the border into the interior of Ukraine and landed in the agreed place. Kuzminov tried to calm down his colleagues, but he failed. The other two crew members began to behave aggressively, ran out of the helicopter, and ran towards the border. They were eliminated.
According to him, the pilot was promised state payments (which is half a million dollars), new documents, and safety for himself and his family.
Kuzminov said that he dared to go on a special operation because he decided not to fight against Ukraine and considers the war a crime on the part of the Russian Federation. Later, the pilot turned to the GUR through social networks and started a secret correspondence.
"Ukrainian agents did not impose a decision; it was my decision, no one forced me. For about half a year, we were building routes, thinking about how to organize everything better and safer, and on August 9, 2023, everything happened," Maksim Kuzminov explained.
GUR representatives Andriy Yusov and Artem Shevchenko said that the result of the special operation would be detrimental to the enemyʼs plans, and Ukrainian intelligence would be able to understand the Russian communication and security system.
- It became known on August 23 that a Russian helicopter had landed in Ukraine. The head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said at the time that, in addition to the pilot, there were two more people on board. When they realized where they sat down, they tried to run away. "Unfortunately, they were destroyed, I would like to take them alive, but we have what we have."
- On September 3, the GUR film "Downed Pilots of Russia" was released, in which a Russian pilot told the details of the special operation "Sinitsa".