Russian pro-war military bloggers report pilots killed during Ukrainian drone attack on Leningrad region

Russian Telegram channels covering military aviation reported that pilots were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Leningrad region.The news appeared on the Fighterbomber channel, run by Z-blogger Ilya Tumanov. “Today’s defense of the skies over St. Petersburg from the drone attack cost us very dearly. Very, very dearly,” he wrote, without giving any details.The Telegram channel Na predele “On the Edge” also reported the pilots’ deaths without specifying the circumstances. The post included a photo of a Ka-52 “Alligator” helicopter.Russian authorities have officially said only that a Ukrainian drone attack on Ust-Luga, in the Kingisepp district, injured three port workers.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.