Direct proof of use
The Ka-52 was documented in Russian service in Ukraine from February 24, 2022, when AP photography showed a Russian Ka-52 gunship after a forced landing outside Kyiv during the opening phase of the full-scale invasion. AFP reporting from the same day described Russian and Ukrainian forces fighting for the Gostomel airfield while attack helicopters flew low over the area.
Aviation Safety Network records the forced-landed Russian Air Force Ka-52 as an aircraft damaged during the Antonov Airport landing operation after it had performed fire-support operations against Ukrainian positions at the airfield. Later reporting and visual-loss documentation show that the type remained in Russian use rather than appearing only as an isolated opening-day aircraft.
Sources: AP Kyiv Forced Landing Photo, Moscow Times Gostomel AFP Report, Aviation Safety Network RF-90680, Oryx Russian Equipment Losses
Southern counteroffensive role
During Ukraine's 2023 southern counteroffensive, UK defence intelligence cited by BFBS Forces News described the Ka-52 as important to Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and said Russia had reinforced southern forces with a small number of new Ka-52M variants. The same update said the fleet carried LMUR anti-tank missiles with a range of about 15 km, allowing crews to fire beyond many Ukrainian short-range air-defense envelopes.
TWZ reporting in June 2023 described Ka-52s engaging Ukrainian vehicles near or ahead of Ukrainian lines with Vikhr-1 anti-tank guided missiles at roughly 8 km or more, while noting the vulnerability created by Ukraine's limited mobile short-range air defense around armor. A later TWZ article identified the Ka-52M as the improved variant associated with LMUR integration and reported that new Ka-52M imagery likely related to aircraft supporting the war.
Sources: BFBS Forces News Ka-52M Ukraine, TWZ Ukraine Armor Ka-52, TWZ Enhanced Ka-52M, Rosoboronexport 305E
Losses and exposure
The Ka-52's role near the front also exposed it to Ukrainian air defenses. Oryx's visually documented Russian equipment-loss list records dozens of Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters destroyed, damaged, abandoned, or captured during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The loss record does not by itself prove each individual mission or target set, but it corroborates sustained Russian operation of the type in the conflict. Together with first-day battlefield evidence, airfield-incident records, and 2023 reporting on anti-armor employment, it supports treating the Ka-52 as a major Russian attack-helicopter platform in the war.
Sources: Oryx Russian Equipment Losses, BFBS Forces News Ka-52M Ukraine, TWZ Ukraine Armor Ka-52
