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Russian Mi-8 Downed in Area Controlled by al-Nusra Front, 'Moderate' Opposition

© Sputnik / Anton Vergun / Go to the mediabankMi-8 helicopter. (File)
Mi-8 helicopter. (File) - Sputnik International
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The Russian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down from the area controlled by al-Nusra Front and so-called "moderate" opposition, the Russian General Staff said.

The Russian Aerospace Forces' Mi-8 Hip transport helicopter was downed in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib while returning from a humanitarian mission in Aleppo, the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier in the day. Three crew members and two reconciliation center officers were on board the helicopter.

No one survived, according to the Kremlin spokesman.

"A Russian transport Mi-8 helicopter which was returning after delivering food and medicines to Aleppo residents, was downed today as a result of a terror attack," Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff, said.

Rudskoy confirmed the deaths of all five people on board the helicopter.

"According to our information, the helicopter was shot down from the ground over the area under the control of the [Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham] terrorist group (al-Nusra Front) and associated so-called moderate opposition units,” he told reporters.

On July 8, Daesh shot down a Syrian Mi-25 helicopter which was being piloted by two Russian officers. The crew received request form the Syrian side to strike advancing Daesh terrorists and thwarted the assault at the expense of their lives.

In April, a Mi-28N Havoc helicopter crashed near the city of Homs in Syria, killing both pilots.

In November, another Mi-8 was damaged and destroyed by terrorists after an emergency landing during a rescue operation to save a pilot of the Su-24 bomber downed by Turkey over Syria. A marine was killed.

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