Russia's Rare Beriev Flying Boats Were Lucky Until This Weekend. That's When Ukraine's Drones Attacked.

Opportunistic drone strikes hit two Be-12s.

The massacre of Russian aircraft in Crimea continues. Just days after blowing up three Russian Mil Mi-8 assault helicopters at Simferopol International Airport, 120 miles from the front line in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency targeted another Mi-8 with its fixed-wing first-person-view attack drones.

For those keeping score, that’s the sixth Mi-8 the Ukrainians have droned in Crimea in a month. Russian air defenses on the peninsular are in shambles; no Russian forces are safe.

The Ukrainian intel agency may have recently had more drones over Crimea than there were known Russian targets. So a few FPV pilots apparently went hunting for targets of opportunity—and found them.

They took aim at two very old Beriev Be-12 flying boats sitting idle 25 miles west of Simferopol.

It’s clear from the drones’ video feeds that both of the twin-engine Be-12s got hit. Whether the targeted Berievs were flyable is up for debate. There are some derelict ex-Soviet Be-12s sitting around various Crimean airfields.

But at least a few of the 1970s flying boats are still active, patrolling the approaches to the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s anchorages in Crimea and, presumably, southern Russia.

For two years, Ukraine’s explosive drone boats have hounded the Black Sea Fleet, sinking and damaging several vessels and driving the fleet away from Ukraine’s made trade routes in the western Black Sea.

Russian Be-12s and Mi-8s—along with drones, fighters and patrol boats—are the first line of defense against the swarms of Ukrainian drone boats. In taking out flying boats and helicopters, the Ukrainians poke holes in Russia’s sea defenses—and help more of the self-exploding boats get through.