Russian Ka-52 Helicopter Destroyed with Stugna ATGM

May 1, 2022October 25, 2025

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a video of the second Ka-52 destroyed with Stugna ATGM orc helicopter “Alligator”. After the first such video published by our General Staff on the 5th April, I had to see many negative comments on social networks. They came from orcs and couch commandos.

The orcs didn’t invent anything new. They called the video a fake. But they call everything a fake, except their own fakes. Therefore, I don’t want to waste readers’ time on orcs. Another category, which I called couch commandos, voiced phrases like “This is not true because I heard from one guy that TOW cannot shoot down a helicopter”.

Later, BBC wrote about this incident. The number of couch commandos decreased significantly. And on May 1, 2022, the General Staff published a video of the second Ka-52 destroyed with Stugna ATGM. Considering that earlier orc helicopters were already shot down with Stugna’s “younger brother” — the Korsar ATGM, a natural question arises. Are such cases accidents or is ATGM against a helicopter normal?

Let’s try to figure it out.

First, we must determine whether these videos are fake (as the orcs claim) or not. Personally, I trust the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine more than the orcs. An additional argument is that the BBC website published a link to the video. These guys know very well how to distinguish fake materials from real ones. They would hardly have talked about it if they determined the video was fake.

But the fact that BBC called Stugna an analog of American Javelins is incorrect. For the sake of objectivity, I must inform that journalists are not military. It’s permissible for them to say so. But this is approximately the same as saying “a sniper rifle is an analog of an assault rifle”.

Different Weapons, Different Tactics

Javelin and Stugna are different weapons. They have different designs and different tactics for use.

Javelin is significantly lighter. But it has twice the shorter firing range and smaller caliber. Javelin’s signature feature — it hits the Pidars* tank from above, in the least protected zone. Therefore, it doesn’t need a large caliber. Thanks to its low weight, it’s ideal weapons if your city needs to be defended from enemy tanks. Ask the Kyivans who painted this mural. They will tell you why Javelin became one of the symbols of Kyiv and Kyiv region defense.

Instead, Stugna has a larger caliber and greater weight. It also has twice the greater range of destruction. The one who shoots with Stugna is called not a shooter but an operator. He controls the missile using a screen and joystick. He can be in a protected or camouflaged position several dozen meters from the launcher. The Stugna missile is capable of penetrating the armor of any modern tank, including those with dynamic protection. Ideal weapon if you need to keep some sector under fire control. Or if you need to disassemble this column of Pidar tanks into spare parts.

This is exactly what happened in Kharkiv region. Ironically, the orcs call the Ka-52 a “flying tank”. So it’s probably quite symbolic that they get hit including with anti-tank weapons. This Ka-52 destroyed with Stugna ATGM proves the point.

Will It Happen Again?

Will impressions of helicopters with anti-tank weapons be repeated in the future? I think so. The Pidars` helicopters cannot fly high because they immediately fall under the action of our air defense. Low altitude gives the opportunity to hide behind slag heaps, buildings and trees. But it is precisely what makes the helicopter vulnerable.