5 dead as Russian helicopter shot down in Syria
(CNN)A Russian helicopter was shot down Monday after delivering aid to the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing all five people on board, Russian state media reported.
It was the biggest single loss of life for Russia in Syria since Russian warplanes started carrying out airstrikesin September 2015 in the country ravaged by war for five years.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by ground fire in Idlib province as it returned to base, state TV reported.
"Those who were aboard the helicopter, according to information from the Defense Ministry, have died heroically because they were attempting to steer the machine to minimize the casualties on the ground," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state-run Sputnik news agency.
Rocket pod found near wreckage
Video footage showed dozens of men cheering around the flaming wreckage, some of them taking photographs with their phones and others yelling, "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great").
An empty rocket pod lay next to the wreckage, raising questions about whether the helicopter was carrying aid.
But it's "possible the Russian helicopter was carrying both empty pods and aid, just as it is possible that the pods were empty because the rockets had been fired earlier in the flight," said Jeremy Binnie, IHS Jane's Defence Weekly Middle East and Africa editor.
Russia's air campaign in Syria is widely seen by Western leaders as an attempt to prop up the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for the downing, and Russia hasn't indicated who might be behind it.
Members of Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham have a strong presence in Idlib province, as do other rebel groups fighting against the Syrian regime. Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, formerly called al Nusra Front, recently severed its ties to al Qaeda.
Members of Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham have a strong presence in Idlib province, as do other rebel groups fighting against the Syrian regime. Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, formerly called al Nusra Front, recently severed its ties to al Qaeda.
Sustained attack
The helicopter downing comes amid deadly fighting and a humanitarian crisis in eastern Aleppo, where rebels are trying to break a Syrian government siege.
Here's what's going on in Aleppo by numbers:
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