Myanmar junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has confirmed his regime continues to source helicopters from Russia, despite their use in deadly airstrikes on civilian targets during four years of civil war.
He revealed the ongoing arms cooperation during a stop in Ulan-Ude, Russia on Sunday as he returned from a trip to Belarus.
The regime chief toured Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant and a nearby locomotive factory in the company of Buryatia Governor Alexey Tsydenov.
“Today I visited a locomotive and carriage repair plant, and earlier, I was at the aircraft assembly plant, both of which are potential areas of bilateral cooperation,” Min Aung Hlaing told local media.
The Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant produced the fleet of Mi-17 helicopters purchased in four batches by the Myanmar military starting in 1995, according to Ukrainian defense news website MilitaryNYI.
Ural Avia LLC, the plant’s operator, was sanctioned by the UK in 2022 for supplying and repairing helicopter parts for Myanmar’s military regime.
“Helicopters manufactured in Ulan-Ude have been used in Myanmar for many years,” Tsydenov told reporters during the tour. “We are planning further collaborations in transportation, particularly related to helicopters.”
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun confirmed the regime is in talks with Buryatia authorities to procure transport helicopters.
Tsydenov has been a good friend to the junta chief, visiting Myanmar last November to tour major tourist spots and join Min Aung Hlaing for Tazaungdaing Festival celebrations. He was sanctioned by the US in 2023 for forcibly conscripting citizens to fight in Ukraine.
Min Aung Hlaing previously visited Buryatia in September 2022 for talks with Tsydenov and local officials on Ulan Ude’s latest helicopter models, according to junta media.
Since the 2021 coup, the junta has relied heavily on airpower to compensate for its waning control on the ground. Helicopters are being used not only to transport reinforcements, weapons, ammunition and supplies but also for airstrikes on both military and civilian targets in resistance-held territory.
The junta’s increased use of helicopters in conflict zones has also made them targets for resistance groups. In May, two junta helicopters were shot down by the ethnic Kachin Independence Army during battles in Kachin State’s Bhamo Township.
