A Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine in an Mi-8 helicopter while taking flak is speaking out against Russia's war and is urging others to defect.
Capt. Maksim Kuzminov, 28, flew his Mi-8 low and with his transponder off to avoid detection executing a months-long plan with Ukraine's HUR military intelligence service, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Two other Russian service members on the helicopter unaware of the plan jumped out on the Aug. 9 landing and were killed trying to flee back to Russia, according to HUR's director Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov.
"When everything started there were tears, suffering, fear and a question: Why does our country need this war?" Kuzminov said alongside two HUR officials, the Journal reported. "I understood that it was a crime, and I simply will not take part in it."
Kuzminov urged others to follow his lead in a video released Sunday by HUR.
"There's so much you don't understand, and you haven't seen how other people live," he said, the Journal reported. "When all this opens up before you, your views will fundamentally change."
Russia has not acknowledged Kuzminov's defection, but a Telegram channel tied to the Russian Air Force has said the HUR videos and story should not be trusted.
Telegram was the social media application used in an encrypted chat where Kuzminov hatched the defection plot by stealing a Russian helicopter, according to the report.
He is eligible for a $500,000 payout under Ukraine law after living what he said was a comfortable life and a good salary before the war started, according to the Journal.
Kuzminov added his parents are now with him in Ukraine, without elaborating on how.
The HUR is hailing the defection as a victory for Ukraine intelligence, the paper reported.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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