Wagner revolt: How many planes and people did Russia lose? - BBC

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TASS

By Jake Horton

BBC Verify

President Putin says Russian pilots were killed during fighting with Wagner forces over the weekend. It also appears to be the case that several aircraft were destroyed.

BBC Verify has been piecing together what is known about the losses.

What has been said about Russia's military losses?

President Putin referred to "fallen hero pilots" in a statement on 26 June. However, he didn't go into detail about the number of casualties or aircraft lost.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of the Wagner mercenary group, said his forces had hit Russian aircraft which "were dropping bombs and launching rocket attacks" in a bid to stop their advance towards Moscow.

He voiced regret for having had to shoot down Russian planes.

The Ukrainian authorities claim Wagner forces destroyed six Russian helicopters and a plane during their short-lived rebellion on Saturday.

Some channels on Telegram, a messaging app popular with military bloggers, have made similar claims about losses.

What losses can be confirmed?

BBC Verify has looked at dozens of videos taken during the fighting between Wagner troops and Russian forces.

It has been confirmed that a military plane was downed near the town of Kantemirovka.

This had been widely reported on various social media channels as an Ilyushin Il-22 - a valuable aircraft for the Russian armed forces to lose.

Pictures of the wreckage were posted on social media, and from the debris, it does appear to be to be an Il-22M, an updated version of the Il-22. The words "Russian Air Force" are visible on the main section.

Twitter

This is an airborne command post, from which troops can be controlled during combat. It serves to link main command centres further away from the front line with troops on the ground.

BBC Russian says that according to social media reports, a total of six helicopters were also brought down, including two attack helicopters, three used for electronic warfare and one transport helicopter.

BBC Verify has confirmed one video which showed a crashed Russian helicopter near Pavlosk.

Other images of the wreckage strongly suggested this was a Mi-8 helicopter, because of the configuration of the blades.

These are equipped with the latest electronic warfare systems, designed to combat ground and air radar, air defence systems and anti-aircraft weapons.

In addition, such helicopters conduct electronic intelligence gathering.

Russia's 24 hours of mayhem

Pictures of more wreckage also appeared on social media, this time said to show a KA-52 helicopter, one of the main attack craft used by Russian forces..

We've not been able to verify where these particular images were from, but part of the debris shows the figure 72, a code sign linked to the KA-52 helicopter.

We also verified a number of videos showing a KA-52 helicopter operating in the Voronezh area during the rebellion on Saturday.