The fight against the Ukrainian aviation, which inflicted serious losses on the enemy throughout the operation to liberate Sloviansk in 2014, became the main criminal target for pro-Russian militants. Mount Karachun was the most important position, as it is a dominant height of 167 meters, from which the movement along the N20 Sloviansk-Donetsk-Mariupol route is controlled.
On June 24, 2014, the crew of the Mi-8MT helicopter ("63rd yellow") from the 16th separate brigade of the army aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine delivered cargo to the Sloviansk area and picked up a group of specialists from the Security Service of Ukraine, who were carrying out a special task of installing, adjusting, and monitoring telecommunications equipment to organize space monitoring and record violations of the first ceasefire in this war in the ATO zone. When the installation and adjustment work was completed, the helicopter took off around 17:15 to head to the base. Almost immediately, it was hit by a missile from the militants, causing an explosion.
At that time, a ten-day ceasefire was announced, but the Russian terrorists violated it.
According to eyewitnesses, an armed group of terrorists was waiting for the helicopter to take off. The militants moved in two cars and a minibus. After launching the missile from a MANPADS, they fled towards the nearest settlement. Due to the missile strike, the helicopter exploded and fell near the village of Novoselivka in the Sloviansk district. A fire broke out, resulting in the detonation of the ammunition.
As a result of the crash, all 9 people on board were killed:
- commander Lieutenant Colonel Andriy Byelkin (career officer, participated in peacekeeping missions under the auspices of the UN in Liberia since 2007);
- navigator Major Dmytro Shingur and onboard technician Major Ruslan Mazunov (mobilized in the spring of 2014);
- two onboard gunners - senior soldiers Oleksiy Volokhov and Oleksandr Kondakov from the 3rd separate special forces regiment;
- four employees of the SBU: communications officer of the Special Operations Center "A" Lieutenant Colonel Ihor Horbenko, senior operational officer in particularly important cases of the Department of Counterintelligence Protection of State Interests in the Field of Information Security Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Shkira, Captain Oleksandr Petryshchuk, and Senior Warrant Officer Marko Shpak from the Special Operations Center "A".
Eternal memory to the Heroes!