What is happening? Believe it or not: Russian defector betrays Putin to join Kyiv

VLADIMIR PUTIN is facing a mutiny as scores of Russian troops defect to fight alongside the Ukrainian armed forces.

Russians infuriated by Putin’s barbarity and corruption have decided to fight against the Russian invasion. Defectors include captured prisoners of war, civilians and a senior official in one of Moscow’s central financial institutions. Igor Volobuev, the former vice-president of Gazprombank, said: “Guys from Russia – if you hate Putin’s regime and want Russia to become a free, democratic country, join us.” Similarly, Russian defector Volodymyr Grotskov, 48, described the Kremlin is a destructive “cancer” threatening the world’s peace and security. “It might sound pretentious but I’m fighting for freedom and democracy,” he insisted.

A RUSSIAN helicopter exploded into a fireball mid-air in Ukraine as footage captured the moment that a suspected British Starstreak missile struck the aircraft.

Footage shared by Ukraine’s Azov SSO battalion showed the moment a Russian attack helicopter was downed in a spectacular missile strike. The helicopter, reportedly an elite Mi-35M attack helicopter, was blown out of the sky before crashing into a field in a ball of flames. Military experts claim that the helicopter was downed by a British Starstreak short-range MANPADS (man-portable air defence system), the world’s fastest surface-to-air missile.

Footage released online shows a low-flying Russian helicopter moving across a field in the Zaporizhzhia region just east of Kherson.

Russian helicopters have often been spotted flying extremely close to the ground to avoid radar detection.

However, the tactic also made the helicopter vulnerable to attack as the video shows a missile striking the Russian aircraft.

The helicopter bursts into flames and continues flying for a few seconds before crashing into a field in a blazing inferno.

Subsequent pictures from the crash scene show the fiery wreckage of the helicopter.

While the Azoz SSO claimed the helicopter was a Russian Mi-24, experts later clarified that it was a Mi-35M.

The Mi-35M is one of the modern combat helicopters in the Russian Air Force inventory.

Posting on the messaging app Telegram, the Azov SSO said: “Original footage of the Russian Mi-24 helicopter in the Zaporizhzhia region.

“Aimed shot by a missile from the Stinger MANPADS was fired by an SSO Avoz fighter under the pseudonym Betsyk.

“The burning helicopter of the occupiers made an ‘unplanned’ landing right in the middle of the Ukrainian field.

“Now it is his permanent location.”

Experts from the aircraft and defence news site The Aviationist claim that the Ukrainian troops used British Starstreak short-range MANPADS, due to the lack of trailing smoke and the speed of the missile.

The supply of British Starstreaks, which can travel at three times the speed of sound, have been key in battling Russian helicopters and planes.

This comes as the UK defence chief claimed that Russia has already “strategically lost” the war in Ukraine and is now a “more diminished power”.

The head of the UK’s armed forces Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said today that Russia was suffering heavy losses and running out of troops and advanced missiles.
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