Pentagon Has No Information on Russian Mi-8 Helicopter Downed in Syria

The United States does not have any data on the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Mi-8 transport helicopter downing in Syria, a US Department of Defense official told Sputnik on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Russian Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy told reporters on Monday that the helicopter was downed in Syria over territory controlled by the terrorist group previously known as al-Nusra Front and its associated so-called moderate opposition forces.

“We [the United States] don't have any information to provide on this incident,” the Pentagon official told Sputnik when asked whether they possess information on the downing of the Mi-8.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said earlier in the day that the transport helicopter with three crew members and two reconciliation center officers was shot down in the northwestern province of Idlib while returning from a humanitarian mission in Aleppo earlier Monday.

Rudskoy confirmed the deaths of all five people on board the helicopter, classifying its downing as a terrorist act.