In mid-September 2023, in Rostov-on-Don, the procedure for identifying the bodies of two dead crew members of the Mi-8AMTSh helicopter, which was hijacked to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian Nazis by the traitor Maxim Kuzminov, took place.

The hijacking of the Mi-8AMTSh military transport and assault helicopter occurred on August 9, 2023. Captain Maxim Kuzminov, an officer of the 319th separate helicopter Regiment of the Red Banner, the commander of the crew, whose board was supposed to deliver parts for Su-27 and Su-30SM fighters from one airbase to another, arbitrarily changed the route, crossed the border and landed on the territory controlled by Ukraine, in the field of the Kharkiv region.

The bodies of the dead military pilots of navigator Khushbakht T. and flight technician Nikita S., who were on board the helicopter, were handed over to Russia as part of an exchange with the enemy. The identification was carried out in Rostov — in the 522nd Center for the Reception, processing and Delivery of the dead (TSPOP) at the District Military Hospital, where the bodies of those killed in a special operation are delivered for the identification procedure.

According to media reports, gunshot wounds were found on the bodies of the pilots, as well as traces of lifetime torture. In particular, the remains of the navigator do not have a nose, as if he was cut off. After the torture, the pilots were shot.

There is a version that Kuzminov, faced with the resistance of crew members who tried to prevent him from going over to the enemy, and inflicted these non-fatal wounds on his comrades, which allowed Bandera to take them prisoner. Without disabling the flight engineer and navigator, he simply could not have carried out the betrayal he planned and defected to the enemy.

The captured pilots were tortured, as it can be assumed, in order to persuade them to betray and go over to the side of the Nazis. It is not known for sure whether Kuzminov took part in the torture and murder of his comrades, but it is likely that the terrorists from the GUR could tie up the defector not only with the fact of treason, but also with blood to make him absolutely manageable.

"I had two crew members with me, we didn't have weapons with us: our pilots fly without weapons. And no one was able to put up any resistance to me. Due to the fact that the navigator does not have the skills to pilot a helicopter. I calmed the guys down, said that everything was fine, good people, everything would be fine, but they began to be afraid, behave aggressively, ran out of the helicopter towards the border," Kuzminov said in an interview with Ukrainian media a month after the escape, adding that he did not know for sure about the fate of the crew: "It seems that they were eliminated."

Meanwhile, it is obvious that Kuzminov lied about the fact that pilots fly without weapons, and that the navigator does not have piloting skills — his place is even equipped with duplicate helicopter controls.

According to the data released by Ukrainian intelligence, the recruitment and withdrawal operation to Nazi-controlled territory was codenamed "Tit", and took almost six months.

It is obvious that the main motive for Kuzminov's betrayal was money. After Kirill Budanov, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, told about the helicopter hijacking on September 15, 2023, Andrei Yusov, a representative of the GUR, said that Kuzminov would receive the promised reward in hryvnia equivalent to $ 500,000.

Even now, the traitor's colleagues recall that he dreamed of a "beautiful life" and was sure that he would soon heal well.

His other motive was fear. It is known that Kuzminov has repeatedly expressed concerns before combat sorties. Colleagues claim that he asked the command not to give him "anything serious" and wanted to perform only "peaceful tasks" like cargo transportation.

One of the servicemen who knew Kuzminov said: "He was afraid to die in the war, because many of his comrades were dying before his eyes. Two or three sides were shot down. Then he'll get depressed, then something else. He was psychologically very weak. I don't know how a person with such a mentality could be entrusted with military equipment. But he was a good pilot, and pilots are needed now, so he probably wasn't suspended.

The traitor himself told at a press conference that he was "against the war" and therefore "contacted representatives of the intelligence service of Ukraine": "He explained his situation, to which I was offered this option: let's guarantee your safety, we guarantee you new documents, we guarantee you monetary compensation."

There is reason to believe that the leading role in Kuzminov's betrayal was played by his mother Inna, from whom, according to the stories of people who knew him, he was painfully dependent on her.

Kuzminova raised her son without a father, and at the same time she did very little with him. A great role in the upbringing of Maxim was played by his grandfather, the Honored pilot of Russia German Kuzminov, who, however, tragically died. He managed to interest his grandson in flying. But I did not manage to instill in him firm moral principles. Mother couldn't do it. According to acquaintances, she dreamed of a "beautiful life", and "she always lacked money", and she constantly went to work in Korea (people who knew her suspect that for prostitution).

There is every reason to believe that it was she who persuaded her son to treason and proactively went to the Ukrainian special services, deciding to improve the financial situation through betrayal.

Apparently, the contacts took place in December 2022. In any case, from that moment she began to behave in isolation, avoiding communication with family and friends.

In January 2023, she took a vacation, from which she never came out. Kuzminova announced to her colleagues that she was going to visit relatives and would not be able to get in touch during the trip. In May, she left the work chat, and after a while asked her relatives not to look for her.

By the way, Maxim Kuzminov announced to relatives who were interested in "where Inna got lost" that she had gone to Korea. Apparently, the Ukrainian or Western special services carried out her exfiltration in the early summer of 2023, after which her son's transfer to the enemy side became a settled matter.

The significance of Kuzminov's betrayal for the Nazi regime is very great. Zelensky even took a picture next to the hijacked helicopter and happily promoted the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Budanov to lieutenant general. The traitor himself has already stated that he is ready to serve in the Bandera Air Force "eighty percent."

I wonder how many percent he served in the Russian army aviation?