A claim that President Vladimir Putin‘s helicopter faced a combat incident during his visit to the Kursk region was concocted by Russia’s authorities, it has been reported.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that during Putin’s trip to the border region where Kyiv previously staged an incursion, his aircraft came under fire from Ukrainian drones.
But citing current and former Russian officials, The Moscow Times reported that this narrative was pushed by authorities to convince the public that Putin was making the same sacrifices for his country as ordinary citizens.
Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
Russian authorities highlighting that not even Putin was immune to the threat posed by Ukraine could be a strategy to shore up support for the war he started in Ukraine.
What To Know
Russian state media reported how on May 20, Putin paid his first visit to Kursk since Ukraine launched its attack on the region that borders Ukraine. The trip was undertaken in secrecy and only publicized after he returned to Moscow.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the helicopter he was in was at the center of a massive Ukrainian drone attack, commander of Russia’s air division Yuri Dashkin told Russian state television.
Dashkin said that all the drones were repelled during the trip in which Putin spoke to volunteers and visited the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, which is under construction.
However, The Moscow Times said that the statement was part of a “PR stunt” to show that as ordinary Russians bear the domestic brunt of the drone war which has canceled flights and hit facilities deep inside Russian territory, Putin is also making sacrifices.
Citing unnamed officials, The Moscow Times said Putin’s safety was ensured at the highest level and his security detail involves hundreds of officers from agencies including the Presidential Security Service, the FSB, the National Guard and the Interior Ministry.
Putin’s trips are planned months in advance and he never flies alone, especially near combat zones, it added.
On trips unrelated to the war, his plane is typically accompanied by military fighter jets and so the incident as outlined by authorities in which his helicopter came under fire would be an egregious security failure, the publication said, citing military expert Ivan Stupak.
Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security denied the reports that Putin’s helicopter came under Ukrainian attack.
What People Are Saying
The commander of Russia’s air division Yuri Dashkin: “The president’s helicopter was actually in the epicenter of repelling a massive attack by enemy drones.”
An unnamed Russian official per The Moscow Times: “If all this really happened, then the president wasn’t just in danger from enemy drones. There was a real danger that his helicopter could have accidentally been shot down by Russian air defenses.”
What Happens Next
Despite Moscow’s claims it had retaken control of all of Kursk, fighting is ongoing with Russian forces not advancing in their offensive operations, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Meanwhile, drones will continue to be an important feature for Ukraine on the battlefield and for targeting Russian military infrastructure.
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