A Russian Mi-8 military helicopter was shot down while returning from a humanitarian mission to Aleppo. This is what the Russian Defense Ministry has just announced. The three crew members and two officers of the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation, were on board the aircraft when it was shot down by enemy fire. The helicopter was en route to Khmeimim Air Base. The Ministry of Defense underlines "that the fate of the personnel on board is clear".
A few minutes ago, the media branch of the Jaysh al-Fateh group posted a photo of one of the crew members on the network. The man, probably dead, is dragged by a group of screaming terrorists near Tal Sultan. According to Jaysh al-Fateh it would be the pilot, killed on the ground by terrorists.
The weapon system used to shoot down the Russian helicopter is still unclear, but the Ministry of Defense confirms the death of the personnel on board. The Kremlin immediately alerted the specnaz departments under the aegis of GRU currently in Syria. All Russian operations planned in Syria today have been canceled to maximize recovery operations. Hmeymim, a specnaz command in Syria, was placed on maximum alert.
In Syria, the Russians have deployed between 20 and 35 rotor platforms Mil Mi-28N e Kamov Ka-52, both in Hmeymim and in the Al-Shayrat base, 30 km southeast of Homs. At Hmeymim, the main specnaz projection base in Syria in the coastal province of Latakia, the bulk of the Russian rotor forces composed of the Mi-28N and KA-52 helicopters are still present.
The first raid to recover the bodies that, even now, should be in the carcass of the downed helicopter in Idlib Governorate is believed to be imminent.
The order to recover the bodies was issued by Putin himself who authorized a massive specnaz deployment of the Voenno-Morskoj Flot Rossijskoj Federacii supported exclusively by Ka-52 heavy helicopters.
