An official note from the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DiU) reported this yesterday, on January 2, 2025, giving the feat the value of a record: "following a successful operation of the defense intelligence of Ukraine in the Black Sea, near the temporarily occupied Crimea, on December 31, 2024, the special forces of the 'Group 13' unit destroyed two Russian Mi-8 helicopters using Magura V5 drones equipped with missiles". There was no escape for the crews. In the same operation, the note emphasizes, another helicopter of the same model was also hit and damaged, but it managed to move away from the scene and land on its take-off base on Russian territory.

A previous statement issued on December 31 specified that the missiles launched by the Magura V5 were of the R-73 Sea Dragon type.

Ironically, if this were the case, the basic variant of the R-73, a short-range air-to-air missile, was developed by a Russian company, Vympel MPO, (which also developed the surface-to-air SAM and anti-ballistic ABM missiles); it entered service in 1984. Kiev has 40 of them in the modern Sea Dragon variant specially modified by Ukraine itself for use in unmanned surface vehicles.

The Magura (Maritime Autonomous Guard Unmanned Robotic Apparatus) V5, on the other hand, is a Ukrainian-made naval combat drone capable of a range of 800 km, according to the specifications announced at its unveiling in July 2023. Unlike other Ukrainian-made naval drones such as the Sea Baby that are used to attack vessels anchored in ports, the Magura V5 is designed specifically to strike targets in the high seas.

Below, the video released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, concerning the downing: