The twin-engine Mi-8 AMTSh was on a flight between two airbases, transporting parts for Su-27 and Su-30 fighter jets, Ukrainska Pravda newspaper reported, citing defence intelligence sources.

The news about a possible pilot defection came days after a drone attack destroyed a supersonic Russian bomber on an airfield hundreds of kilometres from Ukraine.

The planes will be handed over in tranches after pilot training has been satisfactorily completed, but because the new crews have to improve their English before learning to fly and maintain the jets, that will not happen until well into next year.

Ukraine’s small air force is currently made up of Soviet-standard planes that can run only a dozen or so low-risk combat missions a day because they are outnumbered by their Russian equivalents.

In the context of Russia’s large fleet, the defection of a highly trained pilot – after a successful Ukrainian intelligence mission – would be a more significant military blow than the loss of a single helicopter through crew error.

The cross-border flight was presented as an accident by Russian blogger Fighterbomber, who runs a Telegram channel with close links to Russia’s air force.

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