The identity of one of the pilots killed during the rebellion of PMC Wagner has been revealed; IStories has spoken to his family members.
The Russian military did not officially confirm any losses during the mutiny. However, channels close to the Russian Aerospace Forces reported the downing of at least six helicopters and one aeroplane. According to the Telegram channel Fighterbomber, about 13 pilots lost their lives during the mutiny. Eight of them were members of the Il-22 crew, an aircraft as an air control post for the military during the suppression of the rebellion.
IStories has found out that one of the killed servicemen was a man named Kiril Babev, 24, from Taganrog. A friend of his posted an obituary on 25 June, stating that Babaev had been killed on 23 June but completed his combat task. No further details were disclosed.
Kirill Babaev. Photo: social media
Babaev’s brother spoke to the media outlet and confirmed that the Defence Ministry had informed the pilot’s family of his death, keeping the details undisclosed as well. According to Babaev’s brother, Kirill was aboard a non-combat helicopter that crashed on 23 June over Luhansk. IStories believe a Mi-8MTPR is the helicopter in question.
“I asked them a question [about the details of Kirill’s death]. They said it was unknown, and more information would be available later. It isn’t certain [that Babaev was killed in the Wagner rebellion] as the rebellion started after the helicopter had crashed. This is a possible option, but there is no clear evidence,” Babaev’s brother said.
He also said that no representative of PMC Wagner had contacted him, although Irina Kuksenkova, a propagandist for Channel One Russia, stated earlier that Prigozhin had announced he would pay out 50 million rubles (€543,000) to each family that lost a man in the rebellion.
Kirill Babaev was last seen online on VK at 19:11 Moscow time on 23 June. A pro-Russian military blogger Kirill Fyodorov reported earlier that one of the Mi-8 helicopters had been taken down at around 20:15 Moscow time.
IStories also found out the name of another killed pilot: Denis Oleinikov. Fyodorov posted his photo, but then removed the pilot’s name from the post. Fyodorov later added an obituary “from a comrade-in-arms”, mentioning one more member, callsign ‘Dancer’, who was also killed. The journalists could not establish his real credentials.
Fyodorov also mentioned two more killed Mi-8 pilots. Their names also could not be established.
