Taliban Seize Over a 100 Russian Helicopters

The Taliban have seized more than 100 Russian helicopters, the head of Russian state-owned defense exporter has claimed.

In a recent interview, Alexander Mikheev, CEO of Rosoboronexport, said that over 100 Russian-made Mi-17 Hip helicopters have fallen into the hands of the Taliban.

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Mikheev added that the Taliban will not be able to use the Russian helicopters with little access to maintenance crews and spare parts, suggesting that a large part of the fleet could already be grounded due to a lack of repair and maintenance.

The Mi-17 is the export version of Russia’s Mi-8 helicopter. The US had procured the Mi-17s for the Afghan Army because they were relatively affordable and easier to operate than the US-made UH-60 Black Hawks.

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However, a July report from a top US agency on Afghanistan’s reconstruction, SIGAR, shows that Alexander Mikheev’s claim for the number of Mi-17s in Afghanistan is highly exaggerated.

According to the SIGAR report, the Afghan Army had only 56 Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters, of which just 32 were in flying condition till last month.