Putin Was Almost Killed as His Helicopter Reportedly Caught in Epicentre of Ukrainian Drone Barrage During First Visit to ‘Liberated’ Kursk Region
In a dramatic revelation aired on Russian state television, a senior Russian air defence commander has claimed that President Vladimir Putin’s helicopter was caught in the “epicentre” of a massive Ukrainian drone offensive earlier this week during his first visit to the Kursk Region since its reported recapture from Ukrainian forces. The disclosure adds a new dimension to the growing intensity of drone warfare in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and highlights the escalating risks faced even by top leadership figures.
Speaking to Channel Russia 1 in a televised interview on Sunday, Yury Dashkin, commander of an air defence division stationed in the Kursk Region, described how air defence units were forced to act swiftly and decisively to protect the Russian President and prevent a potentially catastrophic security breach.
“During the flight of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s aircraft over the Kursk Region, the intensity of enemy drone attacks surged significantly,” Dashkin said. “His helicopter found itself in the epicentre of a large-scale operation to repel an enemy UAV offensive.”
The attack coincided with Putin’s visit to the region on Tuesday, his first since Russian forces claimed to have fully “liberated” Kursk from Ukrainian control in April. During the trip, the Russian President met with regional Governor Aleksandr Khinshtein, local municipal leaders, and volunteers who have been providing aid to civilians affected by recent fighting.
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While the Kremlin sought to portray the visit as a morale-boosting tour aimed at assessing recovery efforts and stabilizing administration in the war-torn region, the airspace around Kursk was anything but calm. According to Dashkin, the Ukrainian military launched what he described as an “unprecedented” drone assault, targeting key military and infrastructure assets — and potentially endangering the President’s aircraft.
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“Our air defence units had to carry out two tasks simultaneously: conduct anti-aircraft combat operations against a large number of incoming drones and ensure the safety of the President’s helicopter in the sky,” Dashkin said. “The task was accomplished successfully. The enemy’s aerial strike was fully repelled, and all targets were destroyed.”
Dashkin reported that during this single wave of attacks, Russian air defence units managed to intercept and destroy 46 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. The drones were reportedly part of a coordinated offensive effort launched by Ukrainian forces across several regions of western Russia.
The scale of the drone campaign extended well beyond Kursk. The Russian Foreign Ministry later confirmed that between Tuesday and Friday of the same week, a total of 764 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over Russian territory. The Russian Defence Ministry added that the drone onslaught did not slow down over the weekend, with hundreds more UAVs being destroyed on Saturday and Sunday.
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Russia has not provided independent verification of these figures, and Ukrainian officials have so far declined to comment directly on the specific attack alleged to have taken place during Putin’s visit. However, the Ukrainian military has in recent months significantly expanded its use of drones, including long-range UAVs, as part of its asymmetric strategy against Russian targets deep inside the country.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned the use of such drones, accusing Kyiv of targeting civilian infrastructure and violating international law. Ukraine, for its part, maintains that its strikes are aimed solely at military installations and strategic assets used to support Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Putin’s visit to the Kursk Region was meant to symbolize stability and control in an area that has seen periodic shelling and drone strikes throughout the war. The fact that such a high-level visit coincided with one of the most intense drone barrages yet reported inside Russian territory is likely to raise fresh questions about Moscow’s ability to secure even its most senior leadership.
While Russian officials have insisted that their air defence systems remain effective and adaptable, the incident underscores how drone warfare is changing the calculus of security in modern conflict — making even brief visits by heads of state fraught with unprecedented risk.
In the wake of the attack, there has been no indication that Putin’s schedule will change or that future visits to contested or recently recaptured territories will be suspended. However, analysts say the event marks a turning point in how closely the conflict is encroaching on Russia’s political and military elite — and how aggressively Ukraine is pushing its campaign deep into Russian territory.
