I think what you are seeing is how helicopters utterly change warfare, even high intensity warfare. You can use a helicopter as a WW1 biplane with a machine gun one moment and use it as an ambulance the next (and as a drone swarm controller the next), helicopters are insanely flexible tools and the Mi-8 family of helicopters demonstrates that better than any other helicopter ever made.

Good thing Ukraine has Mi-24 and Mi-8s (or whatever the hell people call them this decade lol).

Particularly with how many new tactics are evolving with UAVs and other unmanned vehicles, traditional helicopters become vital pioneering platforms to creatively counter, coordinate with and react to before a counter UAV platform has been designed and fielded to cover for that weakness in defenses.

I mean… the Mi-24 was introduced in 1972… the year Pong was released… the fact that one of these is hunting a drone with a tiny complex computer in it is a mind boggling testament to how helicopters don’t give af.