Russian President Vladimir Putin's helicopter was in the center of a large-scale attack by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during a visit to Kursk province on May 20 - TASS reported on May 25, quoting air defense division commander Yuri dashkin as saying.
Speaking on Rossiya-24 TV channel, air defense division commander Yuri dashkin said: The Presidents helicopter was almost at the center of the enemys large-scale UAV attack. The intensity of the attack increased significantly right when the presidential private plane flew over Kursk province.
We must both organize air defense operations and ensure absolute safety for Commander-in-Chief's flights, dashkin stressed.
According to this commander, all enemy flights were destroyed, and none of the UAVs could get past the defense system: The mission has been completed. All air targets were shot down.
This is the first time there has been official information confirming that the Russian President is in the combat zone as the country's air defense must activate an emergency combat status to protect him from the risk of UAV attacks.
Mr. Putin was in Kursk on May 20 to meet volunteers, leaders of local administrative units and acting Governor Alexander Khinshtein. This is the first visit by a Russian president to Kursk Oblast since Moscow declared the border area liberated on April 26.
Kursk is one of the western provinces of Russia that is often targets of UAV attacks from Ukraine, especially in the context of the escalating military conflict between the two countries after more than 3 years.
