Direct proof of use
The Mi-14 is documented in Ukrainian Naval Aviation service during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through the May 7, 2022 loss of a Ukrainian Mi-14PS. Ukraine's Crimea presidential mission says Colonel Ihor Bedzai took part in search-and-rescue operations at the mouth of the Danube River and that his Mi-14 was shot down by a Russian missile.
Aviation Safety Network records the aircraft as Mi-14PS 34 Yellow of the 10th Naval Aviation Brigade, Ukrainian Naval Aviation, destroyed in combat in Odesa Oblast on the same date. Interfax-Ukraine separately reported that Bedzai was killed while performing a combat mission as part of a Mi-14 naval-helicopter crew.
Sources: PPU Ihor Bedzai, ASN Mi-14PS 34 Yellow, Interfax-Ukraine Bedzai
Timeline
The documented conflict-specific record centers on a single dated incident. On May 7, 2022, Bedzai was flying during search-and-rescue operations near the Danube River mouth; Ukrainian and aviation-loss sources place the aircraft in Ukrainian naval service and record its destruction by a Russian air-to-air engagement in Odesa Oblast.
Reporting after the incident connected the shootdown with video of a Russian Flanker engaging a low-flying Ukrainian Mi-14 in Odesa Oblast. The Aviationist treated that footage as possible imagery of Bedzai's Mi-14 and tied the timing to Ukrainian and Russian confirmation of his death.
Sources: PPU Ihor Bedzai, ASN Mi-14PS 34 Yellow, Aviationist Ukrainian Mi-14 Odesa
Operational role
The sources support a Ukrainian maritime aviation role rather than a strike role. The aircraft identified in the loss record was a Mi-14PS, the search-and-rescue branch of the amphibious Mi-14 family, and the official Ukrainian account describes the May 7 mission as search and rescue near the Danube River mouth.
The episode also shows how Ukraine's small post-2014 naval aviation force remained active after Russia's seizure of Crimea. The same Ukrainian official account says Bedzai had helped move serviceable Ukrainian naval aircraft from the Russian-blocked Saky airfield to mainland Ukraine in March 2014, preserving aircraft that later remained part of Ukraine's naval aviation inventory.
Sources: PPU Ihor Bedzai, ASN Mi-14PS 34 Yellow, Interfax-Ukraine Bedzai
