The only female pilot of the Russian Guard told about her work in the sky

Anastasia Apaseikina, the country's only navigator of the Mi-8 helicopter, serves in the Rosgvardiya special forces unit. She has hundreds of hours of flying time behind her — mountain routes and special forces landings. She told Izvestia about her work on March 8.

The personnel at Izvestia's disposal are not just flying, but working at the limit of their capabilities. The real training of the Rosgvardiya special squad: the Mi-8 helicopter takes off into the air, followed by another one. Pilot—navigator Anastasia Apaseikina is responsible for the route and navigation. Such a woman is worth her weight in gold in the Russian Guard, because she is the only active military helicopter pilot in the country.

"Now we are practicing flights in pairs, performing various maneuvers with speed, damping, and speed consumption. Sometimes the most difficult thing in control is to keep the right distance to the other helicopter, not to get too close and not lose sight of it," she said.

Captain Apaseikina has been in aviation for eight years. She has spent more than 670 hours in the sky: she flew on Ka—226, Ansat and, of course, the legendary Mi-8.

"She performs tasks in the same way as the rest of the team. It may even give some pilots a head start," said the pilot of the special aviation unit of the Russian Guard.

The boundless love for the sky began with the flying club. According to Apaseikina, there she was engaged in complex aerobatics on the Yak-52. The girl liked it so much that she decided to connect her life with aviation. She dreams of being not just a navigator, but Russia's only female helicopter commander.

"There are a lot of interesting exercises there. For example, as a crew commander, you can continue to develop, get permission to fly in the mountains, enter the site in urban conditions, above the water surface," Apaseikina shared.

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The day before, the Russian military personnel of the Center group of forces sent their congratulations to the medical women in their area. Anesthesiologist Ekaterina Evisheva said that she has been in the special operation zone since 2023. During this time, she was able to save about 700 lives.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.