Putin Ally Blasts Wagner After Russia's Huge Aerial Losses During Rebellion

Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has lamented a "tragedy" for the nation's air force after what was believed to be one of the worst days for aircraft losses its military has endured since the invasion of Ukraine began.

At least seven aircraft were reported lost fighting the internal rebellion against the Russian armed forces, with one Russian military blogger claiming as of 2:50 p.m. E.T. on Saturday that 13 pilots had died.

Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin's said he understood "the responsibility for spilling Russian blood" during the rebellion, after agreeing to stand his men down.

In a matter of hours during the short-lived rebellion, Wagner Group units were able to capture military sites in Rostov-on-Don in Russia before advancing north towards the Russian capital, prompting the nation's military to hastily prepare defenses.

The mutiny came amid bubbling tensions between Prigozhin and the Russian military apparatus about the stalled invasion of Ukraine, and accusations that Russian forces had attacked Wagner Group camps.

While the war of attrition across the border continues, with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claiming to have shot down 314 Russian jets and 308 helicopters to date, Russian pundits are now reeling at the loss of military aircraft on home soil.

According to a translation by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser at Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, Solovyov, a Russian TV presenter who has widely been described as a Kremlin mouthpiece, said on Saturday: "There has not been such a tragedy in the history of our aviation for a long time. How many aircraft have we lost today! What is this?".

According to Ukraine's Euromaidan Press, three Russian electric warfare helicopters, a Ka-52 helicopter, an Mi-8 helicopter, a transport helicopter and an Il-22 plane were shot down during the mutiny.

Images of the wreck of a Ka-52 helicopter, still smoking from the crash, were published on Telegram by Kirill Fedorov, a pro-Russian blogger. He identified it as having been shot down in the Voronezh region—an area the Wagner Group had been probing.

Viktor Alksnis, a former Soviet politician, identified an Il-22 plane as having been shot down. He also estimated that between 17 and 22 people had been killed in five of the helicopters downed.

Footage on social media also shows what Visegrad 24 described as an AN-26 transport plane shot down over Voronezh.

Video clips also appear to show two other Russian helicopters shot down, purportedly by Wagner Group members. Newsweek could not verify the authenticity of the footage.

That an estimated fighting force of 25,000 men was able to get close to Moscow has been a cause of alarm for Russian propagandists and a sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin's weakening grip on power for some Western commentators.

"What is it when you have armed people who can advance so many kilometers, almost to Moscow?" Solovyov said.

Newsweek approached the Russian Ministry of Defense via email for comment on Sunday.