Lately, russian military-themed forums have been actively discussing an episode described as friendly fire committed by a Ka-52 attack helicopter of the russian Army during operations in the Kursk Region, the victim being an allied convoy of russian forces.
This event was initially passed off by russian propaganda as a russian attack on a Ukrainian column but when details surfaced, these media resources changed the narrative: they say, the pilot of this Ka-52 was tipsy, and that after the mishap he volunteered to go to the frontline as an infantryman instead, to "atone for the guilt with own blood," so to speak.
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Polish website Defence24, analyzing this situation, speculates that this whole story was born out of a careless and hasty attempt of russian propaganda channels to create a victory out of thin air. This was an especially pressing matter after the photos of a devastating strike on a russian column near Oktyabrskoye spread through the world's media like wildfire. Without proper verification, they published a video that was supposed to show a victory over a Ukrainian column but turned out to be depicting a shameful error: an attack on two allied trucks and two Msta-S artillery systems.
However, Defense Express would like to add that even such information as the russians admitting their blunders, should be double-checked. And this whole narrative is illustrative of the state of affairs in the russian military.
For starters, the whole backstory about the Ka-52 pilot being drunk during a sortie, that is, in an "altered state of consciousness", may actually be just a cover fabricated to avoid answering uncomfortable questions related to the two well-known problems.
First is the quality of the Ka-52's cockpit equipment, more specifically, the imaging devices. As the image above shows, the cameras can barely provide the pilots with live feed of quality good enough for the crew to clearly identify the targets.
The second problem is that apparently, the russian army headquarters is still having trouble with collecting and processing data. That affects situational awareness at all levels of management and manifests in failing to provide appropriate target designation to the helicopter crews.
Another quite revealing nuance lies in the "biographical" detail that the pilot allegedly "admitted that he was drunk and asked to go to the front himself." This serves as a good illustration of how strict the punishment system is in the russian military nowadays. As authors of Defence24 noted, for an untrained soldier, a transfer to an infantry battalion is "tantamount to a death sentence."
Nonetheless, the russian command decided to give this story publicity, and by sending a helicopter pilot as an infantryman to the frontline, the intention to punish him in the most severe way possible prevailed over the concern about preserving scarce and valuable airmen.
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