5 dead as Russian military chopper shot down in Syria

Kremlin says helicopter was delivering humanitarian aid; crew tried to minimise victim count

Moscow: A Russian military helicopter was shot down yesterday over the Syrian province of Idlib with all five people on board believed to have been killed, the Kremlin said.

Opposition fighters belonging to Ajnad Al-Sham fire shells in Aleppo. PIC/AFP

"As far as we know from the information we've had from the defence ministry, those in the helicopter died, they died heroically, because they were trying to move the aircraft away to minimise victims on the ground," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

The defence ministry had earlier said there were five people on board.

"A Russian Mi-8 military transport helicopter was shot down from the ground after delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo," the defence ministry said in a statement. "Three crew members and two officers were on board," it said.

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