Direct proof of use
The Mi-28 is directly documented in Russian service during the full-scale phase of the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War. The War Zone reported January 2023 footage from a Mi-28NM mission in Ukraine, including a pair of Mi-28NM helicopters, LMUR missiles carried on an APU-L rail, and a launch sequence during the sortie.
RUSI's 2026 assessment of helicopter employment in Ukraine names the Mil Mi-28 among Russian helicopter fleets that suffered significant losses after Ukrainian air defenses contested the airspace. That source supports sustained Russian use and exposure of the type, while the TWZ footage gives a clearer example of how a modern Mi-28NM was used for a standoff guided-missile strike.
Sources: TWZ Mi-28NM LMUR Ukraine, RUSI Helicopters Ukraine
Timeline
By early 2023, public imagery had moved beyond generic attack-helicopter reporting to a specific Mi-28NM mission. TWZ dated the key cockpit and launch footage to January 14, 2023 and assessed that it showed Mi-28NM helicopters in Ukraine carrying and launching LMUR/Izdeliye 305 missiles.
The later record shows the helicopter's exposure to Ukraine's expanding drone threat. Defense News reported that Ukrainian footage released on August 7, 2024 showed an FPV drone hitting the tail rotor of a Russian Mi-28 over the battlefield. Kyiv Independent reporting then placed a Mi-28 in a rear-area strike context on April 29, 2026, when Ukraine's 414th Separate Unmanned Strike Aviation Systems Brigade said a long-range drone attack hit a Mi-28 and a Mi-17 during refueling and technical checks in Russia's Voronezh Oblast.
Sources: TWZ Mi-28NM LMUR Ukraine, Defense News FPV Mi-28, Kyiv Independent Voronezh Helicopters
Narrative
In Ukraine, the Mi-28 appears as a Russian attack-helicopter and fire-support platform rather than a transport aircraft. The parent Mi-28 family is built around a 30 mm cannon, rockets, and guided missiles, and the Ukraine-specific evidence emphasizes low-altitude helicopter operations, survivability pressure, and standoff strike adaptation.
The clearest weapon-employment evidence involves the Mi-28NM and LMUR/Izdeliye 305. TWZ described the January 2023 mission footage as showing LMUR carriage and a launch sequence, while also noting that available imagery usually showed limited missile loads rather than full theoretical carriage. Army Recognition later reported that Russian Ministry of Defense footage published by tvzvezda on June 18, 2026 showed a Mi-28NM conducting an LMUR strike in Ukraine; its article treated newly visible antenna housings as possible counter-drone electronic-warfare equipment and stated that the Russian Ministry of Defense had not identified the equipment.
The vulnerability record is separate from the strike record. RUSI attributes significant Mi-28 and other Russian helicopter losses to Ukrainian air defense and contested airspace, Defense News documents an August 2024 FPV-drone hit on a Russian Mi-28, and Kyiv Independent reports a Ukrainian unit's April 2026 claim of a drone strike on a parked Mi-28 in Voronezh Oblast. Together, those sources support a page about Russian use and battlefield exposure, but they do not establish a complete sortie count, a complete loss count, or every target struck by Mi-28 crews.
Sources: TWZ Mi-28NM LMUR Ukraine, Army Recognition Mi-28NM EW Ukraine, RUSI Helicopters Ukraine, Defense News FPV Mi-28, Kyiv Independent Voronezh Helicopters
