The Russian pilot who hijacked a military helicopter and landed it with the crew in the Kharkiv Region is alive and is going to stay in Ukraine.
This was stated in an interview with Radio Svoboda by the head of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense, Kyrylo Budanov, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
He noted that before the professional holiday of Ukrainian intelligence on September 7, the Defense Intelligence will show a film about this special operation, in which the details will be revealed.
At the same time, Budanov reported that after landing the helicopter, two crew members tried to escape, but they were destroyed by Ukrainian forces.
The head of the Defense Intelligence added that no one was going to kill them, but on the contrary, they wanted to take them alive.
According to Budanov, the crew members did not know about the pilot's intentions to land the helicopter in Ukraine and where they were flying.
"This is the first successful operation in the entire history of Ukraine. No one has done such a thing in this time, I hope that now it will be possible to scale it up," noted the head of the Defense Intelligence.
He stated that the pilot is doing well.
"No one is keeping the pilot behind bars. He has two options (where to return), but he is inclined to be here," Budanov said.
The Defense Intelligence said that the Russian helicopter was in Kyiv, but did not talk about the pilot's motivation.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the military intelligence of the Ministry of Defense lured the Russian Mi-8 military helicopter, which landed at the Ukrainian airfield.
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