Documenting Russian aircraft losses from the Wagner rebellion

A total of seven Russian aircraft are said to have been brought down by Wagner forces, including a 4-engine Il-22 airborne command center and six helicopters: two KA-52 attack helicopters, three Mi-8s used for electronic warfare, and one transport helicopter. [BBC. Also: Daily Mail]

Putin himself has referred to “fallen hero pilots,” as the BBC article above notes, and Wagner head Prigozhin has spoken of his regret for having had to shoot down Russian planes, so both parties involve are in agreement that Russian aircraft were shot down by Wagner. Regardless, here's some visual evidence of the losses:

A downed Ka-52 attack helicopter can be identified by its tail number [MilitaryLand]. The Il-22 airborne command post was filmed falling out of the sky [Dmitri]; its wreckage is easily identifiable [OSINTtechnical]. A photo of the flaming wreckage of a helicopter is suggested by the BBC to be a Mi-8 designed to combat ground and air radar, air defence systems and anti-aircraft weapons based on the configuration of the blades [Dmitri; a video of what looks to be the same helicopter: (((Tendar)))]. There's also the charred remains of what looks like another downed helicopter [War Monitor].

The last evidence to offer here is more indirect. There's a widely shared video of an anti-air missile narrowly missing an attack helicopter flying over the Russian city of Voronezh as it fires its countermeasure flares. [Faytuks News]. It's possibly the clearest visual proof of Wagner forces attacking Russian aircraft. There's also another photo of a downed helicopter taken at considerable distance [Faytuks News]. Whether it's one of the aircraft already documented above or a unique kill can't be said.

Based on the above visual evidence, a Il-22, one Ka-52, and two Mi-8s can be confirmed to have been brought down by Wagner. That's missing the second Ka-52, possibly one of the electronic warfare Mi-8s, and also the transport helicopter claimed shot down. There could be evidence of additional aircraft kills out there that this site hasn't come across, or the visual evidence is just unavailable. Based on what can be confirmed though, Russian losses were substantial and there's little basis to doubt the full list of claimed kills shared by both anti and pro-Russian sources [War Monitor].