Media: Military helicopter crashes in Russian-occupied Crimea, killing 2

Two pilots were killed after a Mi-28N military helicopter crashed in Russian-occupied Crimea, BBC Russia reported on May 12.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the helicopter crashed during a "routine training exercise" in the Dzhankoi district of Crimea.

The crash is being attributed to equipment failure, BBC Russia wrote. There was allegedly no ammunition on board.

Mi-28N helicopters are "intended for defeating armored and non-armored vehicles, low-speed low-flying air targets, as well as manpower on the battlefield," BBC Russia wrote, citing a Russian Defense Ministry website.

Russia has occupied Crimea since 2014 in the wake of Ukraine's EuroMaidan Revolution that ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia has been using Crimea to launch missiles against mainland Ukraine and as a logistic route to transfer equipment to the southern battlefield.

Russia’s annexation of Crimea

Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in February 2014 amid the deadliest days of the EuroMaidan Revolution that eventually ousted pro-Russian ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. While Yanukovych’s pro-Russian regime was murdering protesters in downtown Kyiv, around 30,000 Russian troops crossed i…

Kyiv IndependentLucy Minicozzi-Wheeland