Fact checking: Military expert Alesin falsely claimed U.S. staged air crash to cover up American soldiers' deaths in Ukraine

On March 9, Russia announced the destruction of two Patriot systems in the Donetsk region, which was confirmed by Ukraine. Four days later, military analyst Alexander Alesin said in an interview with BelTA that this was only one side of the truth.

“Many media reported that after the destruction by the Russian Federation of two Patriot missile systems and auxiliary vehicles, a helicopter carrying 30 military personnel suddenly crashed in the United States.

Many say that this air crash was invented to lawfully write off these personnel. To hide the fact that U.S. military personnel died in combat in Ukraine,” he said.

There has been one helicopter crash reported in the U.S. resulting in the death of military personnel. It happened in Texas on March 8, that is, the day before the report of the destruction of Patriot systems in Ukraine. Two National Guard soldiers died and another one was wounded then.

A message about the possible death of over 30 NATO troops as a result of the destruction of two Patriot SAM missile systems in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, was reported by Russian media referring to a former American army officer, Stanislav Krapivnik.

According to Russian media, Krapivnik is a native of Lugansk. He had been serving in the U.S. Army 20 years ago, from 1993 to 2004. Since 2010, Krapivnik has been living in Russia.