• Ukraine said it destroyed a Russian helicopter carrying a maritime drone for the first time.

• The footage appeared to show a missile fired from the sea and a helicopter falling from the sky.

• Ukraine’s maritime drones have proven to be a key technology in the fight against Russia’s vast navy.

New video footage shows what Ukraine described as a world first: one of its maritime drones destroying a flying target.

The clip purports to show how a Ukrainian Magura V5 maritime drone destroys a Russian Mi-8 helicopter.

This was announced by the Ukrainian Defense and Intelligence Service, commonly known as GUR.

The footage, which appears to show thermal images taken by the drone, shows a helicopter in the sky and a bright object flying towards the helicopter.

Then the helicopter appears to crash and you see an object fall into the water. The video shows the same incident from multiple angles.

It ends with the English text: “Happy New Year 2025.”

You can watch the footage here:

The GUR said soldiers fired the shot on Tuesday, destroying the helicopter with a missile fired from a drone.

It was said to be the first example of such a strike ever.

The exchange took place in the Black Sea near Cape Tarhankut in Crimea, the Ukrainian region that Russia annexed in 2014.

The sea drone used R-73 “SeeDragon” missiles, the GUR said. These are short-range air-to-air missiles with infrared homing technology.

The GUR said another similar Russian helicopter was also hit but managed to return to an airfield. It is not clear whether it was hit by drones or other weapons.

The operation was attributed to Ukraine’s Group 13, which operates the maritime drones and has claimed responsibility for other daring attacks.

Helicopters – which fly slower than most aircraft – have been attacked by various types of drones before.

Ukraine appeared to have shot down another Mi-8 using an aerial drone earlier this year.

The Magura V5 is an unmanned multi-purpose surface vessel from Ukraine.

Drones were used more frequently in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine than in any other conflict in history.

These include large, military and small, civilian airborne drones as well as naval drones.

Its naval drones have targeted, damaged and destroyed some Russian ships, helping Ukraine in its one-sided fight against the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

According to the U.S., as of June, Ukraine had sunk, destroyed or damaged at least 24 Russian ships in the Black Sea, and Russia was moving many of its remaining ships further away from Ukraine.

Ukraine’s drones have allowed it to largely neutralize the Russian Navy without Ukraine having its own warships.

The drones have also laid mines on Russian ships and attacked Russian oil platforms.

Ukraine The company typically loads its naval drones with explosives and drives them directly into targets to explode on impact. Ukraine has also equipped some with missiles, such as some of its Magura V5s.

The drones also engaged in firefights with Russian helicopters, planes and patrol boats.

Ukraine produces its own maritime drones, which, in addition to the Magura V5, also include the powerful Sea Baby drone.

Read the original article on Business Insider