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Combat Sortie of the Air Force of Ukraine

Photojournalist Kostiantyn Liberov shared his memories of his participation in a combat operation on an AFU helicopter

It was an operation with the participation of 5 helicopters, the commander of which delivered medicine to “Azovstal” in March

Military photojournalist Kostiantyn Liberov published material on the combat sortie of helicopters of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Army on his "Instagram" page.

"Recently enemy fighters are actively hunting for helicopters, every sortie is a risk. Red dots on the commander's tablet show the movement of enemy aircraft in real-time, and in our direction, these dots formed a solid line," Kostiantyn Liberov.

"Would you be able to go to your job, knowing that at any time you may not return from it? And for combat helicopter pilots, their daily heroism is just work. At least, that's what they call it among themselves. And, according to the tradition of real heroes, they don't consider themselves heroes," Kostiantyn Liberov.

"Imagine that you have a handful of toothpicks in your hands, all of them are short, but one is long. Pulling this one long one out of this handful is as likely as coming back alive," the crew commander

"We approached a distance of 3-4 km from the enemy, this is a very dangerous position because from there the helicopter falls into the zone of damage of any portable anti-aircraft missile system. You have to act very quickly, and you have to take into account that launching rockets is a piece of jewellery: to hit the target, you need to find the right angle, position, and only then press "launch". Pilots aim on their own, and everything depends on their skill. That is why, by the way, they spend almost all their free time on training and studying," Kostiantyn Liberov.