MOSCOW—Syrian
rebels downed a Russian helicopter killing all crew members and
officers on board, the Kremlin and a Syrian opposition news agency said
Monday.
Russian Helicopter Shot Down in SyriaSyrian rebels downed a Russian helicopter killing all crew members and officers on board, the Kremlin and a Syrian opposition news agency said
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By
Thomas Grove and
Raja Abdulrahim
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The downed helicopter reportedly crashed in Idlib, near the southern border of Aleppo province, where rebels on Sunday launched a battle to break the siege in Aleppo city. The Russian Defense Ministry said three crew members and two officers were on board. Shahba Press, an opposition news agency based in the north of the country, said four soldiers were on board the helicopter and that all were killed. “Those who were on the helicopter, according to information coming from the Defense Ministry, have died,” state-run RIA news agency reported Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying. The downing of the helicopter is the latest in a handful of casualties reported by the Russian Defense Ministry since the start of the intervention in Syria. Last year, Turkish F-16 jet fighters downed a Russian Su-24 war plane, killing both pilots on board. Earlier this year, state news agency TASS reported another two helicopter pilots were killed by militant gunfire from the ground. Russia intervened last year in the Syria conflict at the request of President Bashar al-Assad with regular bombing strikes against the forces arrayed against him. Earlier this year Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled out a large part of Russia’s forces, though a substantial presence remained behind to continue bombing raids. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said last Friday that Russia’s presence in the city of Aleppo was purely humanitarian to distribute aid. A Russian promise of humanitarian corridors out of the city, however, have been met with skepticism from rebels fighting there as well as concern from the United Nations over Moscow’s intentions. Write to Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com and Raja Abdulrahim at raja.abdulrahim@wsj.com |