Russia Loses Two Ka-52 Attack Helicopters, 12 Drones in a Day: Ukraine

The Ukrainian Air Force's South Command said its forces shot down two Russian helicopters as well as Iranian-supplied "kamikaze" drones.

The command said on Saturday that over the previous 24 hours, three enemy Shahed-136 drones were downed over the Mykolaiv region, and three more were shot down by other units of Ukraine's South Defense Forces.

Two Russian Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopters were also downed in the southern Kherson region, the command said.

They added they had destroyed three Russian ammunition depots in the Beryslav and Kherson district in other strikes, news outlet Ukrinform reported. Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment.

Releasing its separate daily assessment of Russian losses, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that on Friday Moscow lost 12 drones in total, alongside eight tanks and 21 armored personal vehicles.

The Iranian drones have had a big impact on the war, striking Ukrainian targets which include civilian infrastructure. Tehran had denied supplying Russia with the devices although on Saturday Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, admitted his country did provide them but said this was before the war began.

Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, responded by saying that Tehran should realize "that the consequences of complicity in the crimes of Russian aggression" would be "much larger than the benefits of Russia's support."

Meanwhile, Russia said on Saturday that its air defense systems had shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter, as well as intercepting 27 projectiles fired from the U.S–supplied HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems.

Russian Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said that the missiles were intercepted near the settlement of Vuhledar in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region, state news agency Tass reported.

It comes as Vladimir Putin publicly approved the evacuation of civilians from parts of Russian-occupied Kherson amid an advance by Kyiv's forces. At least 70,000 people are reported to have been moved already from Kherson city which Moscow seized early in the war.

Russian troops are allegedly searching for residents in the city who are refusing to evacuate before Russian forces potentially withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River.

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian forces were still trying to hold the captured area and were carrying out offensives towards Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novoplavlika.

Also on Saturday, British defense officials said that Putin's mobilization drive will add "little additional offensive combat capability" to his forces in Ukraine, with many who will be sent into battle receiving little training, or no training at all.