Video of Russian Live-Fire Exercise Mishap Viewed Millions of Times
Footage has gone viral purporting to show a Russian soldier losing control of a rotary machine gun designed to be fired from a helicopter but adapted for ground use.
During the Russia-Ukraine war, which began when Moscow’s troops invaded on February 24, 2022, Kyiv's defense and intelligence agencies and affiliated social media channels often publish videos showing Russian battlefield losses, drone strikes, failed assaults, abandoned equipment and accidents.
One clip that has prompted much comment showed a soldier preparing a four-barrel Soviet-era YakB- (Yakushev-Borzov) 12.7, which is a gas-operated, four-barrel Gatling-style machine gun that can fire up to 5,000 rounds a minute.
In the video, the gun is seen bolted onto a ground mount, instead of the nose turret of the Soviet-era Mi-24 “Hind” attack helicopter it was designed for.
After the trigger was pulled, the weapon came loose and swung around before the soldier, who was wearing sneakers, jumped off.
Another soldier reacted at the last possible moment, narrowly avoiding the gun as it pivoted uncontrollably. He then burned his hand touching the barrel.
Rounds can be seen spraying uncontrollably across the range in the incident, whose location and date Newsweek has been unable to confirm.
There were no official reports of whether anyone was injured, and Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment about the clip which as of Monday had been viewed at least 16 million times.
Russian losses, which as of Monday were 1,420,690, according to Kyiv, have meant that many of Moscow’s troops are thrown into the war with inadequate training and equipment, which social media users sharing the footage pointed out.
They also suggested that incident that took place during a training session involving a Russian anti-drone mobile fire group.
"Insane video of Russian anti-aircraft gunner losing control of a YakB-12.7 heavy machine gun usually attached to a Mi-24 gunship but repurposed to shoot down drones," pro-Ukrainian X account War Monitor said next to the clip.
"Russian mobile fire teams master the art of 360° defense," Ukrainian outlet United 24 wrote.
Another pro-Ukrainian account, Special Kherson Cat posted: "Russian mobile fire group training goes wrong while using a YakB-12.7 rotary machine gun originally built for Mi-24 helicopters."
"This is what happens when an aircraft rotary gun with brutal angular recoil is treated like a regular ground weapon," the post added. "They ignored that fact, slapped it onto a ground setup for a mobile fire group, and assumed it would work like a regular stationary machine gun."
Open-Source X account OSINT Defender posted: "Russian soldier with a mobile air defense team nearly kills several other soldiers in a training incident."
Meanwhile, the X account Ice Universe posted that the YakB-12.7 "has brutal recoil, and the forces it produces are nothing like a regular machine gun."
"On a helicopter, the airframe and mount can absorb that madness. But once you slap it onto a simple ground setup, it suddenly develops a personality," the post added, "you think you're controlling the gun, then it starts controlling you."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly and Dave Siminoff.
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This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 10:48 AM.