In the small russian town of Naro-Fominsk, adjacent to Moscow and located about 400 km from Ukraine, local air defense forces most likely shot down an allied helicopter on the night of April 10, after mistaking it for a Ukrainian one-way attack drone.
This is evidenced by a multitude of videos showing them try to shoot down a helicopter-type aircraft over the city. Local media also reported that some alleged UAV was shot down at around 22:40 local time. This happened simultaneously with an actual Ukrainian long-range drone attack on targets in the Moscow region.
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Due to the low quality of night photography, identification of the aircraft is quite difficult but the rotating blades and the noise don't leave many other options. In addition, one of the videos captures the helicopter outlines more clearly. It remains unclear, however, if it was a civil or a military model.
Märklig drönare över RysslandHär över Naro-Fominsk i Moskva-regionen.Ryssarna ska ha lyckats skjuta ned den. pic.twitter.com/x0FACuwYAX — Existenz.se (@Existenzse) April 10, 2025
Besides, one might wonder why the helicopter's blades glowed. Contrary to speculation online, this wasn't the so-called Kopp-Etchells effect, where the helicopter's blades form a sparkling halo due to friction with dust or sand, as it can only be witnessed in the desert during the landing or take-off of an aircraft.
Instead, it's part of standard lighting equipment alongside aeronautical lights and flashing beacons. Called the blade tip lights, they visualize the contours of the aircraft’s rotor disk.
Why the russians mistook such a visually distinct and large object for an attack drone is another question. Notably, the russians only used small machine guns and, possibly, ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns to fire at the chopper, not missile weapons. The likely explanation for this may be that firing at the perceived threat were specialized air defense troops but whichever military personnel ware on-site, summoned from nearby military units.
For Instance, there is a permanent deployment base of the 4th Guards Kantemirovskaya Tank Division right in Naro-Fominsk, or the training center of the Frunze Military Academy, and a military storage facility for fuel and lubricants. Moreover, the trails left by tracer rounds indicate that the fire was conducted by all troops at the same time.
This is far from being the first case of russian air defenses shooting at friendly aircraft, after taking them for Ukrainian long-range drones. On November 26, 2024, a bypassing civilian An-2 came under fire over the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil refinery in Bashkiria.
However, the aircraft, designed in Ukraine, proved exceptionally durable. The case became public precisely because it ended up useful for propaganda, otherwise, it would most certainly have been swept under the rug and passed for another "successful takedown of a Ukrainian drone." It happened a few times previously, so the helicopter downing in Naro-Fominsk will likely never be acknowledged by the russian military command.
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