Number of Russian helicopter sorties over Black Sea - Navy spox

The Russians have reduced the number of helicopter sorties to monitor the Black Sea area.

This was stated on national television by the spokesman for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk.

"In fact, we’re observing some positive dynamics. That’s a fact, and this is not the first day, so we can say that this is a trend. The number of helicopter sorties has decreased. And this was also the case yesterday," he said.

"Maybe this could be related to weather as they are now not too critical to a strong impact on flights, so perhaps the enemy is reacting a bit to possible threats at sea, but I cannot say that they have stopped this practice. They do fly their helicopters, just a slightly smaller number," the spokesman added.

He noted that the use of aircraft by the occupiers remains at the same level. In particular, they are most actively using unmanned systems.

"As for warplanes, the activity there remains at the same level but the enemy is most actively using unmanned systems as they have a wide range of UAVs in operation," Pletenchuk informed.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, as of 6:00 on Friday, there are no Russian warships on combat duty in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

On December 31, 2024, Magura V5 missile-equipped naval drones made history, for the first time downing two Russian Mi-8 helicopters over the Black Sea. The operation was a unique case where unmanned platforms at sea were used to intercept enemy aircraft.