How many Russian air assets were shot down during the Wagner coup?

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s 48-hour armed coup against Russia’s leadership in Moscow was a mostly peaceful affair until Wagner Group troops began shooting down aircraft targeting the mercenary column. But how many air assets were downed and was anyone killed? 

Shortly after the failed coup attempt began, video footage began hitting the social media feeds of Russian military bloggers showing the wreckage of a destroyed Ilyushin-22 jet bomber somewhere in the rural regions of southern Russia according to The Telegraph. 

The Telegraph reported that at least seven aircraft were shot down by Wagner soldiers on their march to Moscow and that included some very rare pieces of equipment like the Mi-8MTPR-1—an electronic warfare helicopter that was “scarcely available” in Russia. 

Video footage also emerged of a Ka-52 helicopter being downed while The Telegraph reported that two more Mi-8MTPR-1s were allegedly shot out of the sky by the Wagner Group as well as one Mi-8 transport helicopter and one Mi-35 gunship. 

Casualty figures were also reported with most Russian airmen walking away from their downings with their lives, though it was reported that at least 13 thirteen of the servicemen were killed including the pilots of the Ka-52 chopper and all 10 onboard the Ilyushin-22.

Franz Stefan Gady is a consulting senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and told Business Insider the loss of an Ilyushin-22 wasn’t an insignificant event since the Russian Air Force only had a small amount of these advanced air assets in their arsenal.  

Photo credit: Twitter @Osinttechnical

The Ilyushin-22 is a Soviet-era bomber but The Telegraph noted the jet was likely being used as an airborne command and control center, a system Gady said was one of only 12 pieces of equipment that Russia had in its inventory. But all losses were very significant. 

Ukrainian officials also estimated 13 Russian airmen had been killed during Wagner’s uprising and Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told The Kyiv Post Russia lost six of its helicopters and specifically referenced the loss on the Mi-8 as important. 

“Mi-8 transport helicopters are powerful hardware that really helps the Russian army in its war against Ukraine,” Ihnat explained, unfortunately, none of the aircraft shot down have been verified and reports on the downings can only be confirmed via online video. 

Vladimir Putin claimed in a speech after the coup Wagner forces had killed 39 pilots and crew according to the Daily Mail and Prigozhin said in a recent video, after striking a deal with the Russian government to end his armed rebellion, that he regretted his mercenaries were forced to down aircraft that were attacking them. 

“Not a single soldier on the ground was killed,” Prigozhin said in an audio message that was translated by CNN. “We regret that we were forced to strikes on aircraft… but these aircraft dropped bombs and launched missile strikes.”

Prigozhin has offered to compensate the families of the slain airmen according to The Telegraph and proposed a sum of 50 million rubles or roughly $585,000 and in a later audio message on June 27th took another moment to honor the airmen who died. 

Photo credit: Twitter @Osinttechnical

"Pilots, our combat comrades, died while confronting the mutiny," Prigozhin said according to a translation of his message from CTV News. "They didn't waver and fulfilled the orders and their military duty with dignity."

Photo credit: Twitter @Osinttechnical

The Telegraph reported the Wagner Group was using Strela-10 air defense systems to down their seven kills but this information has not been confirmed and it is likely we will never know what was used or the real truth of the incidents and how many were killed. 

Business Insider noted that it is unclear how many of the Wagner Group’s mercenaries were killed in the air assaults on their convoys, if any were killed at all before a deal was struck and Prigozhin called off the armed rebellion. 

David Axe of Forbes noted that Ukraine has yet to shoot down an Ilyushin-22 and said: “The aircraft are so valuable that Ukrainian forces have gone to extraordinary lengths to target them — with little success,” making the downing of the jet a big win for Ukraine.