Pro-opposition television news outlet Orient News said rebels had shot down a Syrian military helicopter and said the pilot had been captured.
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Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday that “from what we know from information provided by the Defense Ministry, all those who were on the helicopter died”.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday that one of its helicopters had been shot down in Idlib Province in Syria with five people on board, the Interfax news agency reported.
An Mi-28N helicopter gunship crashed near Homs in April, killing both crew members, but the Russian military said there was no evidence it came under fire. Idlib province has a strong presence of both fighters for the al-Qaida branch in Syria known as the Nusra Front and rebels.
There were three crewmembers and two officers from Russia’s center for the reconciliation of warring factions in Syria on board.
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Two activist groups – the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees – say rebels shot down the helicopter over Idlib. He did not elaborate.
