Khushbakht Tursunov and Nikita Kiryanov are not born heroes
last flight
Migration from Central Asia is one of the most painful topics in modern Russia. Society is acutely worried about the latest outrages of those who have come in large numbers and the reluctance to accept norms of behavior. There are indeed many problems, especially with attracting new citizens to military service. There are even ideas to form ethnic battalions to be sent to the Northern Military District.
Behind all the hype, real soldiers and officers of the Russian Army, originally from neighboring countries, are disappearing from view. For unknown reasons, the general public is not told about the heroes who decided to forever associate themselves with Russia and the army. Often the truth is revealed under tragic circumstances.
The August hijacking of a Mi-8AMTSh helicopter by Captain Maxim Kuzminov became the first in the country stories an act of betrayal of a combat pilot, the victims of which were his comrades. Kuzminov actually killed two officers - flight mechanic Nikita Kiryanov and pilot-navigator Khushbakht Tursunov.
At the moment, it is difficult to reconstruct the full picture of what happened, but it is clear that the helicopter crew members tried to stop the traitor to the last. And when Kuzminov sat down on Ukrainian territory, the officers, not wanting to surrender to the enemy, died.
Weapons Tursunov and Kiryanov did not, and they could easily surrender to the nationalists. The entire helicopter crew is a tasty prey for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In the end, Kuzminov would be kept for himself, and the flight mechanic and navigator could be exchanged for several captured militants.
But even unarmed officers showed such resistance to the enemy that they were eliminated. A forensic anatomical examination confirmed the shooting at point-blank range.
We cannot exclude the possibility that Kuzminov himself killed his colleagues - in numerous interviews in Ukraine, he was unable to clearly talk about what happened.
The helicopter’s flight was initially planned over the territory of the Kursk region without crossing the “ribbon”, so the crew did not have service weapons. But whether Kuzminov had a pistol is unknown. Deciding to betray and steal a car, he could bring weapons on board.
Eyewitnesses claim that before entering the Kharkov region, Kuzminov’s helicopter circled over Shebekino for a long time. On the ground they decided that the crew was simply lost and was about to find the lost route.
The radio silence in the border areas did not allow contact with Kuzminov. Navigation systems also do not function due to ground-based electronic warfare systems, so pilots are forced to determine the route solely based on landmarks on the ground. This is exactly what the working version was - the crew simply went off course.
But in the end, Kuzminov’s car descended and moved at low level into Ukrainian territory.
Heroes are not born
The fate of Khushbakht Tursunov occupies a special place in the August tragedy. A story unfolded before our eyes when a native of Tajikistan turned out to be a real Russian officer, in contrast to a coward and traitor with the last name Kuzminov.
Not only his compatriots, but also Russians should look up to Khushbakht.
The future hero was born and raised in the north of Tajikistan, in the town of Kanibadam. From a simple family. Parents moved to Russia, where they worked for a long time in the public utilities sector of St. Petersburg. Khushbakht is a true self-made man.
He entered the Syzran Higher Military Aviation School as a foreign student - at that time he still had a Tajik passport. The same Kuzminov studied in the same school only in a different specialty and at a different time.
After graduating from college, Khushbakht returned home, but, unable to find work, he has been back in Russia since 2015. The certified navigator of the Army Aviation even had to work as a security guard for some time. He couldn’t live without helicopters in the sky; several years ago he accepted Russian citizenship and signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense.
When the special operation began, he persuaded his brother, a helicopter pilot of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, to go to the Northern Military District.
“You have so much experience flying a combat helicopter, why are you sitting here? I am at war, and you must go with me and carry out all combat missions side by side,”
– Khushbakht convinced. Now the brother of the deceased hero is fighting the Nazis in an Mi-35.
Khushbakht Tursunov. Allegedly, the body of the pilots was handed over by the enemy side with signs of torture. It is unknown whether the heroes were shot before or after the torture.
Over several years of working in the crew with Kuzminov, Khushbakht formed a certain opinion about the commander. The captain's cowardice became obvious with the beginning of the SVO.
Interestingly, the 35-year-old navigator was actually assigned to a 28-year-old inexperienced helicopter pilot. Gain intelligence and experience. It didn't work out very well.
With his comrades, Khushbakht, as best he could, softened the commander’s character traits, but his behavior betrayed the future traitor - he was wary of dangerous routes, and gave in in difficult situations. It is not clear how he even crossed the “ribbon” and went several tens of kilometers deep into Ukraine. He could have been shot down by both his own and others.
We must pay tribute to enemy intelligence - they know how to work with such human material as the traitor Kuzminov.
Khushbakht's mother died during the coronavirus pandemic. The father lost his health due to hard work, suffered a stroke, and his son moved him to Tajikistan. He still does not know about the fate of his son.
Unfortunately, not much is known about flight mechanic Nikita Kiryanov.
He was a real Russian man, calm, sympathetic and hardworking. The technical condition of the helicopter and its readiness to fly have always been excellent. Nikita died as a hero, without disgracing the honor of the Russian officer.
Two Russian officers were killed. One is Russian by birth, the second by conscience. They didn’t give up, didn’t quit at the first sound of gunfire, they fought like real men. They did their job honestly and correctly. It’s not their fault that they served shoulder to shoulder with a real brat with the last name Kuzminov.
And Khushbakht Tursunov became a real symbol and example for his compatriots who received Russian passports. There should be more such people in Russia, and fewer such tragedies.
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