"If we have already come here, we are like kings of the world": the pilot who broke through to "Azovstal" delivered cargoes over 100 km deep into Russian positions (video)

Interview with a pilot who flew to deliver cargo and evacuate the wounded from Azovstal. The Ukrainian hero told how the operation to deliver supplies to the territory of the plant blocked by the Russian military was planned and carried out.

The press service of the Land Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces published an interview with the pilot of the helicopter that delivered aid and evacuated the wounded from Azovstal.

The pilot said that the operation to evacuate the wounded from Azovstal was secret and planned by Ukrainian intelligence. The crew received a large amount of information about the operation in a short period of time.

"Each case when the flight was performed is individual. Someone had a day, someone had a week to prepare, and someone had a few hours," said the pilot.

The main difficulty he called the fact that it was necessary to get into enemy territory, overcoming more than 100 km. All this distance was accompanied by a dense air defense of the Russians, and in one landing area there were three anti-aircraft missile systems.

"According to tactics, all mathematical calculations, it was not that difficult - it was almost impossible to do. But practice has shown that it was possible to do - and we did it ," said the Ukrainian pilot.

According to him, when the commander first set this difficult task for the pilots, he said:

"How many lives of civilians and other people do you value your life, crew? How many people have to die for you to understand that your life is worth it? And we really understood, we all understood what was going on, that people had no medicine there and ammunition. That's why everyone took this risk. Understanding why and for whom they are doing it. "

He also spoke about his emotions during the operation:

"The biggest excitement was when you go to the helicopter before launch. But already in the process everyone understood that it was just work. And at the time when we were in Mariupol, and there was a landing, it was a feeling of euphoria. What if we Unfortunately, this was not the end, because on the way back, 3 minutes after takeoff, my helicopter was hit by a MANPADS missile and one engine failed. the crew died, he fell. After the rocket hit me, I had an adrenaline rush. We did what we had to do. "

It will be recalled that on May 20, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Ukraine had lost a large number of pilots in Mariupol, and 90% of helicopters trying to break into the Azovstal plant did not return.

The head of the GUR Kirill Budanov said that there were only 7 flights with the participation of 16 helicopters. Two of them were shot down by the enemy, and another helicopter was destroyed when it arrived for evacuation to one of the previously shot down predecessors.

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