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Russian helicopter crashes in Syria, killing both pilots

A Russian helicopter crashed in Syria late on Monday killing both pilots, Moscow's defence ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies.

08 May 2018, MVT 13:08
A Russian military Ka-52 helicopter conducting air strikes in exercises in 2016. PHOTO: TASS
08 May 2018, MVT 13:08

A Russian helicopter crashed in Syria late on Monday killing both pilots, Moscow's defence ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies.

It added that the incident "may have been due to a technical malfunction" and that a rescue team recovered the bodies.

The incident is the Russian army's second deadly crash in Syria in less than a week. On May 3, a Russian fighter jet crashed after taking off from an airbase, killing both pilots.

Monday's accident brings Russia's official military losses in Syria to 88. Russian nationals are also regularly reported to be serving as paid mercenaries in Syria, and sometimes killed.

The most recent large military loss acknowledged by Russia came when a transport plane crashed on landing at the Hmeimim airbase in March, killing all 39 people on board.

Moscow, Russia | AFP

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