The identity of another pilot of the Russian Aerospace Forces, who died during the rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his PMC Wagner on June 24, has been established. The second Ka-52 pilot who died was the commander of the 3rd squadron of military unit 44440 Alexei Vorozhtsov (15th army aviation brigade, stationed at the Veretye airfield in the Pskov region). This was reported to "Important stories" by a source familiar with the situation in the VKS.
"Important stories" also found an obituary dedicated to Vorozhtsov, in which his classmate (name not disclosed) comments on Prigozhin's rebellion:
“On that terrible day, our classmate, Alexei Vorozhtsov, died. He devoted his whole life to serving the Motherland, was a regular soldier, carried out combat missions in hot spots on the orders of the command, and yesterday he died … from his own … "
One of the former servicemen of the unit confirmed to the journalists of the publication that Vorozhtsov served in the unit and was the commander of the 3rd squadron. Vorozhtsov's title is unknown. It is noted that usually the squadron is commanded by an officer with the rank "not lower than lieutenant colonel."
Vorozhtsov could have had the call sign "Dancer", his photo was published earlier by propaganda military Telegram channels. Presumably, he died along with the navigator Denis Oleinikov.
Earlier it was reported that the losses of the Russian army as a result of a military mutiny could range from 4 to 20 people. PMC Wagner mercenaries destroyed at least two combat helicopters and one aircraft. On the evening of June 24, it was reported about the downed Ka-52 Alligator helicopter near the Voronezh village of Komintern and two dead pilots.
On the night of June 24, the head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, after statements that the places of deployment of his mercenaries were fired upon by the forces of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, began the "March of Justice" to Moscow. PMC fighters entered Rostov-on-Don, and also moved towards the capital through the Voronezh and Lipetsk regions. However, a day later, Prigozhin deployed his columns, the press service of Alexander Lukashenko immediately released a material stating that this was done by the "agreement" of the Belarusian leader with the head of the PMC. Prigogine later confirmed this information. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov promised that the founder of PMC Wagner would "leave for Belarus."