Download
← All fact checksMorning run · November 13, 2026 · #10 by reach
ConflictEvent claim

Did Russian air defences shoot down three of their own aircraft near St Petersburg?

Did Russian air defences shoot down three of Russia's own helicopters, killing seven crew, while fighting off a Ukrainian drone attack on the Ust-Luga port?

True, but…

Three aircraft and seven crew: broadly confirmed. The exact aircraft types and the friendly-fire cause are not.

The report is broadly accurate. On the night of 10-11 November 2026, three Russian aircraft and seven crew were reported lost while defending against the Ukrainian drone attack on the Ust-Luga port near St Petersburg. Friendly fire is a strong suspicion but officially unconfirmed. The claimed two-Ka-52 list is contested: later compilations give a Ka-52, an Mi-8 and a MiG-31.

+6Sources ↓Original post ↗

Claims

✓ 2 true

Three Russian aircraft were lost overnight while repelling a Ukrainian drone attack near St Petersburg, with seven crew members killed.124

✓ TrueCentral claimHigh confidence

This is the core of the post, and it holds up. Several outlets reported on 11-12 November 2026 that three Russian aircrews totalling seven people died while defending against the mass drone attack on the Ust-Luga port area. They include Kyiv Post, The Moscow Times, Defence Blog, The Insider/Vazhnye Istorii, Focus and Zn.ua, all citing pro-war Russian Telegram channels such as Fighterbomber, Voevoda Veshchaet and Voyenny Osvedomitel. The Institute for the Study of War noted the same reported loss of three helicopter crews (seven personnel) on the night of 10-11 November. The sources are not fully independent — the reporting traces back to the same Russian milblogger channels — but the outlets are separate editorial operations, and the claimed death toll is consistent across them. Russia's Defence Ministry has confirmed no losses. That silence is expected in wartime and does not contradict the reports; it does mean the figure rests on unofficial Russian channels rather than state confirmation.

Still open: No official Russian confirmation of the deaths exists, and the death toll rests on milblogger accounts.

The three lost aircraft were two Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters and one Mi-8.56

~ Partly trueLow confidence

This airframe list matches one early version that circulated on 11 November, when a Ka-52 and an Mi-8 were named and later expanded to three aircraft. But a more detailed loss list compiled from Z-channels on 11-12 November gives a different make-up: a Ka-52 with two crew, an Mi-8 with three crew and a MiG-31 fighter with two crew. That 2+3+2 breakdown adds up to exactly seven dead, which is why it is the stronger account. No official Russian confirmation of any aircraft type exists. The 'two Ka-52' detail therefore is not established; it is one version of an unofficial list that later reporting revised. A reader should treat the number of aircraft and the death toll as solid, and the specific types as unsettled.

Still open: Whether the third aircraft was a second Ka-52 or a MiG-31 remains unresolved in the open sources.

Russian air defences shot down the aircraft (friendly fire).137

– UnverifiableLow confidence

Friendly fire is a widely repeated suspicion, raised by Russian milbloggers, by Israeli military journalist Sergei Auslender and by Ukrainian commentators. Meduza and The Insider treat it as plausible, noting that own-air-defence shootdowns are a common cause of Russian aircraft losses. But it has not been confirmed officially, and an in-air collision remains an alternative explanation that The Insider's Vazhnye Istorii explicitly considered. The post presents friendly fire as established fact — 'were lost to friendly fire' — when the sourcing supports only a suspicion. This is the weakest link in an otherwise broadly accurate report. The distinction matters: the loss of aircraft and crew is documented by multiple outlets, but the cause is inferred from unofficial accounts, not demonstrated.

Still open: No investigation has established whether the aircraft were hit by friendly fire or collided.

A Ukrainian drone attack on the Ust-Luga port was under way when the aircraft went down.89

✓ TrueHigh confidence

This part is solid and officially acknowledged. Leningrad region governor Alexander Drozdenko said 150 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the region overnight and that the Ust-Luga port zone was hit, causing a fire and injuring three port workers. The SBU confirmed strikes on oil terminals at Ust-Luga and said it was verifying reports about destroyed Russian combat helicopters. NASA FIRMS fire data showed new hotspots at the port. The drone attack is the firm factual backdrop against which the aircraft losses are reported, and it is the one element confirmed by a named official rather than only by Telegram channels.

A text-only post: there was no media to test.

What was posted

X

A text-only post on X from the account Open Source Intel (@Osint613) reports that seven Russian crew members were killed overnight when Russian air defences near St Petersburg downed three helicopters. It says two Ka-52 attack helicopters and one Mi-8 were lost to friendly fire during a Ukrainian drone attack on the Ust-Luga port. No image, video or document is attached.

“REPORT: 7 Russian crew members were killed overnight after their own air defences near St Petersburg downed 3 helicopters. Two Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters and one Mi-8 were lost to friendly fire. A Ukrainian drone attack on the Ust-Luga port was underway when it happened. The earlier count…”

Posted on X by the account Open Source Intel (@Osint613). The post is text only and provides no link, image or official citation. The same claims first appeared on pro-war Russian Telegram channels on the morning of 11 November 2026.

Who posted it

X
@osint613

Account 6.9 years old

View the account on X ↗

Account check

Looks like a genuine account42%
Likelihood of automation22%

Estimates from public signals — account age, posting pattern, audience — not a judgement of the person behind the account, and separate from whether this post is true.

What stood out

  • Account is genuine and long-established: founded January 2020 (~6.9 years old), ~1.5-1.6M followers on X with a blue verification badge and location listed as 'N.Y – Northern Israel' — the supplied profile metadata is simply missing this data.
  • Run by an identifiable operator: founder 'Jay' (New York-born, based in northern Israel), now joined by COO Simcha Brodsky; tied to osint613.com website, a newsletter, and a YouTube channel with verified ownership links.
  • High reach and mainstream uptake: bulletins cited/reposted by Reuters-, Bloomberg-, CNN- and Fox-level outlets; White House and DHS accounts have amplified its posts, which raises the damage from any error.
  • Repeat fact-check failures: India Today (Mar 2026) named @Osint613 among four 'OSINT' accounts spreading disinformation in the US-Israel-Iran war, citing a June 2025 burning-ship video (actually a collision) presented as an Iranian drone attack, and an August 2025 Syria explosion photo passed off as a Pakistani strike in Afghanistan.
  • Soch Fact Check (May 2024) debunked its post 'Why do Gazans keep faking injuries?' — footage was behind-the-scenes from a 2022 Palestinian short film, not a staged injury in Gaza.
  • D-Intent Data (Oct 2026) listed @Osint613 among amplifiers of a Pakistani 'hypersonic missile test' hoax built from a 2017 Falcon 9 launch and cloud photos.
  • Ukrainian MFA and InformNapalm called out a fake 'Ukrainian soldiers threatening Iran' video that @Osint613 was a main spreader of (Jul 2026).
  • AFP/Lead Stories found a Chabahar explosion image it pushed (July 2026) was a year-old photo, partly AI-altered, and had been reposted by US government accounts — though the account did issue a prompt public correction ('BIG CORRECTION... I own it').
  • Behaviour looks professional rather than astroturf: very high, near-continuous posting volume (100k+ posts) with repetitive framing and internal automated source-aggregation tools, but a consistent human editorial voice, correction practice, and organizational footprint — not a fake-persona or coordinated bot network.
  • Editorial stance is openly pro-Israel/pro-US and partisan in framing, which colours selection and speed-over-verification tradeoffs despite stated 'verification before publication' policy.
Signals (12)+
Account created
2020-01
Follower count approx
1550000
Posting cadence
Very high volume, near-continuous; 100k+ posts
Content repetition
~89% repetitive terms per third-party analytics
Identified operator
Jay (founder, NY-born, northern Israel) + Simcha Brodsky (COO)
Organizational footprint
Osint613.com, Beehiiv newsletter, YouTube channel, Ko-fi
Notable news coverage
Cited by Reuters/Bloomberg/CNN/Fox/WSJ; reposted by White House, DHS, Trump; India Today disinfo investigation
Fact check history
Multiple debunks: Soch Fact Check 2024, India Today 2026, D-Intent Data 2026, AFP/Lead Stories 2026, InformNapalm/Ukrainian MFA 2026
Correction behaviour
Issues occasional public corrections, but often after viral spread
Coordination signals
No evidence of fake personas or paid amplification; internal automation used for source monitoring only
Partisan lean
Pro-Israel / pro-US editorial framing
Bot probability rationale
Human-operated media operation with automated aggregation pipelines; high volume is workflow-driven, not astroturf

Account checked November 13, 2026, 03:17 UTC

Sources

9 sources reviewed

Further reading

  • 1Kyiv Post Kyiv Post sets out the milblogger claims and the lack of official confirmation.
  • 3Vazhnye Istorii (The Insider) Vazhnye Istorii explains the competing explanations, including in-air collision and friendly fire.
  • 6Dialog.UA Dialog.UA gives the revised loss list that accounts for the seven dead.

The full story

The kernel of truth here is a real and costly night for Russian forces. Overnight on 10-11 November 2026, Ukraine launched a large long-range drone attack on the Ust-Luga oil and commodity port in Leningrad Oblast. Leningrad governor Alexander Drozdenko said 150 drones were destroyed over the region and that the port zone was hit and set on fire, injuring three workers. The SBU said it struck oil terminals at the port and was verifying reports about destroyed Russian combat helicopters.

Against that backdrop, pro-war Russian Telegram channels reported the loss of three aircrews — seven people — while repelling the attack. Independent outlets including Kyiv Post, The Moscow Times, Defence Blog, The Insider and Focus followed the same day, all tracing to the same Z-channel sources. The Institute for the Study of War noted the reported loss of three helicopter crews and said it found no verifiable imagery of the incidents.

Why did the claim feel plausible? Because the pieces fit. A mass drone raid on a strategic port, Russian air defences firing in a crowded sky, and a long record of own-air-defence shootdowns in this war. The Insider and Meduza both note that friendly fire is a common cause of Russian aircraft losses. That context makes the shootdown story easy to believe — and easy to overstate. The post's error is not inventing an event. It is presenting a suspected cause and a contested aircraft list as settled fact.

Kernel of truth

A large Ukrainian drone attack on the Ust-Luga port did take place, and multiple outlets reported three Russian aircraft and seven crew lost during the defence, though the cause and exact aircraft types remain unconfirmed.

Timeline

  1. November 10, 2026

    Overnight, Ukraine launches a mass long-range drone attack on the Ust-Luga oil and commodity port in Leningrad Oblast. 9Dozhd (TV Rain)

  2. November 11, 2026

    Leningrad governor Alexander Drozdenko says 150 drones were downed over the region and the port zone was hit and set on fire, injuring three workers. Pro-war Russian Telegram channels report three aircrews and seven dead. 9Dozhd (TV Rain)

  3. November 11, 2026

    Kyiv Post, Defence Blog, The Insider and other outlets report the claimed loss of three Russian aircraft and seven crew, noting no Defence Ministry confirmation. 1Kyiv Post

  4. November 12, 2026

    A more detailed loss list compiled from Z-channels names a Ka-52, an Mi-8 and a MiG-31 rather than two Ka-52s. 6Dialog.UA

How it was framed

Misleading contentFalse context

The post is built on a real event — the Ust-Luga drone attack and reported loss of three aircraft and seven crew — but presents an unconfirmed friendly-fire cause and a contested aircraft list as established fact. The underlying story is accurate; the framing overstates what the sources support.

  • “Visual proof”. The post asserts 'their own air defences ... downed 3 helicopters' and 'were lost to friendly fire' as flat statements, with no imagery or document offered.
  • Missing context. No mention that the friendly-fire cause is a suspicion, nor that later compilations of the same milblogger claims list a MiG-31 instead of a second Ka-52.
  • Borrowed authority. The all-caps 'REPORT:' framing implies a sourced news report, but no outlet, official or document is cited.

Posted on X by Open Source Intel (@Osint613), a text-only account post with no attached media and no linked source. The claims mirror reporting that first appeared on pro-war Russian Telegram channels on 11 November 2026.

Bias

NoneSlightModerateStrong

Leans critical of the Russian military; amplifies Ukrainian-war information-space claims. The post relays Russian milblogger-sourced losses in a way that maximises embarrassment for the Russian military — the friendly-fire cause and the airframe list are stated as fact although Russian officials have confirmed nothing and the exact aircraft mix is disputed. The underlying facts are, however, genuinely reported by independent outlets, so the slant is one of framing and confidence rather than fabrication.

Bias describes how the post frames its message — the slant of the language, selection and emphasis — and is judged separately from whether the claim is true. A true claim can still be framed with a strong slant.

How we checked

40 s
  1. 1

    We searched for reporting on Russian air-defence friendly fire and aircraft losses near St Petersburg and Ust-Luga, including the Ka-52 and Mi-8.

  2. 2

    We searched for coverage of the Ust-Luga port drone attack and any reported helicopter losses.

  3. 3

    We searched for confirmation of the three-aircraft loss, including the Institute for the Study of War's assessment of 11-12 November 2026.

  4. 4

    We compared the aircraft types named across early and later versions of the milblogger claims.

  5. 5

    We checked whether any official Russian statement confirmed the losses; none did, while the regional governor confirmed the drone attack and port fire.

✓ Claim checked– Media not applicable✓ Sources checked

Why 75% confidence

Moderate

The headline verdict is TRUE_BUT at MODERATE confidence: the event is well corroborated by several outlets, but the friendly-fire cause and the exact aircraft list rest on unofficial and shifting sources, and no Russian official has confirmed the losses. The central claim of three aircraft and seven dead is rated TRUE at HIGH confidence because the death toll is consistent across outlets; the airframe claim is PARTLY_TRUE at LOW confidence and the friendly-fire claim UNVERIFIABLE at LOW confidence because the reporting itself hedges them.

Limits. We could not access the original Telegram channel posts directly, and no official Russian confirmation or independent imagery of the losses exists. Our assessment rests on the published reporting and the governor's statement.

What we don’t know

  • Whether the third aircraft was a second Ka-52 or a MiG-31.
  • Whether the aircraft were brought down by friendly fire or lost in an in-air collision.
  • The exact number of crew on each aircraft beyond the reported seven total.
  • Whether Russia will acknowledge the losses.

Spot it yourself

Find the overstatement

Looks suspicious, isn’t proof

  • The 'REPORT:' prefix and all-caps headline style — dramatic formatting is a reason to check, not evidence of falsity.
  • The account is anonymous and aggregator-style; an unknown poster can still relay accurate reporting.
  • The claim is convenient for Ukraine's supporters, which makes it feel either more or less credible depending on your sympathies — bias is not proof either way.

The actual evidence

  • Multiple separate outlets — Kyiv Post, Defence Blog, The Insider, Focus — reported the same three-aircraft, seven-crew loss, so the core event is corroborated across newsrooms.
  • The regional governor confirmed the drone attack and port fire, giving the story a verified factual backdrop.
  • The aircraft list changed between versions: early reports named a Ka-52 and an Mi-8, later compilations added a MiG-31, so the 'two Ka-52' detail is unsettled.
  • The friendly-fire cause was described by The Insider and Focus as unknown or suspected, with in-air collision an alternative — the post states it as fact.
  1. 1

    Check whether the core event is reported elsewhere.

    Search the place and event — 'Ust-Luga drone attack aircraft lost' — and see whether outlets beyond the original poster carry it. Here several did.

  2. 2

    Separate the event from the cause.

    Ask whether the source says the aircraft were 'shot down by friendly fire' or that this is 'suspected'. The post used the flat version; the reporting used the hedged one.

  3. 3

    Look for a revised version of the same claim.

    Search for the aircraft types specifically. If later compilations name different aircraft, the original list was provisional, not final.

  4. 4

    Find the official account.

    Check whether a named official — here the regional governor — confirmed the surrounding facts. His statement confirmed the attack and fire but not the aircraft losses.

Takeaway

A report can be right about the event and wrong about the explanation. Separate what happened from why it happened, and check whether the cause is confirmed or only suspected.

Questions people ask

Did Russia shoot down three of its own helicopters near St Petersburg?+

Multiple outlets reported that three Russian aircraft and seven crew were lost during the 10-11 November 2026 drone defence over the Ust-Luga area. Friendly fire is a strong suspicion raised by Russian milbloggers and treated as plausible by The Insider and Meduza, but it has not been officially confirmed, and an in-air collision remains possible.

Were two Ka-52 helicopters and one Mi-8 lost?+

That was one early version. A more detailed list compiled from Z-channels on 11-12 November names a Ka-52 with two crew, an Mi-8 with three crew and a MiG-31 with two crew — seven dead in total. No official confirmation of any aircraft type exists, so the 'two Ka-52' detail is contested.

What happened at the Ust-Luga port?+

Leningrad governor Alexander Drozdenko said 150 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the region overnight and that the Ust-Luga port zone was hit and set on fire, injuring three workers. The SBU said it struck oil terminals at the port and was verifying reports of destroyed Russian combat helicopters.

Has Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed the losses?+

No. Russia's Defence Ministry has not confirmed the loss of any aircraft or the deaths of the crew. The regional governor confirmed only the drone attack, the port fire and the injured workers.

Why is friendly fire considered likely in this war?+

The Insider and Meduza note that own-air-defence shootdowns are a common cause of Russian aircraft losses. During mass drone raids, air defences fire in crowded airspace, which raises the risk of hitting friendly aircraft — but that makes it plausible, not proven in this case.

Go deeper

Milblogger
A military blogger, often on Telegram, who reports on war from a particular side; many Russian pro-war channels are called Z-channels.
Friendly fire
When an armed force hits its own troops or equipment by mistake.
Ka-52 Alligator
A Russian attack helicopter designed for close air support and anti-armour missions.
MiG-31
A Russian high-speed interceptor fighter aircraft.
Ust-Luga
A major Russian oil and commodity port on the Baltic Sea in Leningrad Oblast.

People also search for

7 Russian crew killed own air defences St Petersburg helicoptersTwo Ka-52 and one Mi-8 friendly fire Ust-LugaRussia shoots down its own helicopters Ust-Luga drone attackТри вертолетных экипажа погибли Усть-ЛугаRussian helicopters lost repelling Ukrainian drone attack St Petersburg
For educators+
Misleading content vs fabricated content: a true event framed with an overstated cause.Source tracing: several outlets citing the same Telegram channels are not fully independent.Confirmation language: 'suspected' vs 'confirmed' in conflict reporting.Verification under fog: why official silence in wartime is expected but still leaves gaps.
  • The post says the aircraft 'were lost to friendly fire', while The Insider says the cause is unknown. How does changing one word change what a reader should believe?
  • If six newsrooms all cite the same three Telegram channels, how many independent sources is that? What would make the reporting stronger?
  • Why might a wartime government stay silent about its own losses, and how should that silence affect how we rate a claim?

About this check

Platform
X
Posted by
@osint613
Posted
November 11, 2026
Age when checked
1–2 days old when checked
Where it spread
Russia, Ukraine
Audience
International audience
Language
EN
Status
● Post is live
Verified
November 13, 2026, 03:19 UTC
Published
November 13, 2026, 03:19 UTC

Reach. Osint613 post 1,141 likes (X syndication). Covered 12 Nov by Kyiv Post ('Did Russia Shoot Down Its Own Helicopters...'), Euromaidan Press, The Insider, Moscow Times/Defence Blog; UATV Español video 27.5K views in 4h (YouTube search).

This verdict was generated with AI from the sources shown. AI can make mistakes — check the sources before relying on it.

Check anything yourself, in seconds.

Share any social post or video to What the Fact and get the verdict, the confidence, and the receipts.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play