The assessment of experts disagrees with the data of the Ministry of Defense. Judging by the video, it was not the Mi-25, but the Mi-35M. And the car was hit not during the return, but while working on targets

Two Russian military instructor pilots died in Syria near Palmyra. This was officially confirmed the day before by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the statement of the department was quoted by the media.

“On July 8, Ryafagat Khabibullin and Yevgeny Dolgin flew in a Mi-25 helicopter in the province of Homs. At this time, east of Palmyra, a large detachment of ISIS militants (banned in Russia) attacked the positions of the Syrian troops and began to move deeper into the area, creating a threat to capture the dominant heights. The crew received a request from the Syrian command of the group to defeat the advancing militants. Having used up ammunition, while turning back, the helicopter was shot down by terrorists and crashed in an area controlled by the Syrian government army.

The quality of the video allows you to see that the downed helicopter is more likely of the Mi-35 type - this is indicated by the landing gear, which is not removed from the thirty-fifth, unlike its predecessors Mi-24 and export Mi-25.

The combat helicopter was hit in the tail boom and lost control. The helicopter fired before hitting. The video also shows a second helicopter of a similar type. According to Interfax, the helicopter was fired upon from an American heavy anti-tank missile system TOW.

Familiarized with the video Chief Editor magazine "Arsenal of the Fatherland" and a member of the expert council of the military-industrial commission Viktor Murakhovsky.

editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine“I looked at the footage. Was shot down Russian helicopter Mi-35M. But they did not return, he was hit while attacking targets. The leader was hit. We worked as a couple traditionally. Regarding what was shot down - I think not anti-tank guided missile, not to her. Now what measures can be taken. There is one peculiarity there: when close air support is provided to troops, there must be close interaction between ground forces and combat helicopters. There is no normal preparation and normal interaction. Generally speaking, the operation of helicopters at extremely low altitudes, at cutting edge- This dangerous job traditionally. More careful planning combat use helicopters and improve interaction with ground forces - with the Syrian army.

As noted in the Ministry of Defense, there were no reserve units of the Syrian troops for the transfer and containment of the offensive of terrorists in this direction. The dead pilots are presented for state awards. Relatives of the pilots whose helicopter was shot down in Syria will receive insurance compensation in the amount of two million three hundred thousand rubles from the Sogaz company, TASS reported.

To date, the Russian authorities have officially confirmed the death of 13 military personnel during the operation in Syria, including Dolgin and Khabibullin. In March of this year, President Putin ordered the withdrawal of most of the Russian contingent from Syria. Russian aviation, however, continues to strike at the positions of militants in Syria.

In the Syrian province of Idlib, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter carrying three crew members and two officers was shot down, the Russian Defense Ministry said. According to the military department, the helicopter was shot down from the ground when it was returning to the Khmeimim base after being delivered humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo.

"On August 1, in the province of Idlib, as a result of shelling from the ground, a Russian military transport helicopter Mi-8, returning to the Khmeimim airbase after delivering humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo, was shot down," Interfax reports a message from the Russian Defense Ministry. "There were three crew members and two officers of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria. available channels".

A little later, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that no one survived as a result of the crash. "Those who were in the helicopter, as far as we know from the information that came from the Ministry of Defense, died. They died heroically, because they tried to take the car away in order to minimize casualties on the ground," Peskov said. He added that "the Kremlin expresses deep condolences to all the relatives of our dead servicemen."

Photos and videos, which depicted, presumably, one of the victims of the Mi-8 crash, appeared, in particular, on Twitter @todayinsyria (18+).

— Syria Today (@todayinsyria) August 1, 2016
August 1, 15:47 According to, close to the main command of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of the Russian Federation, the helicopter was relocated to Syria from a military airfield in Klin. in Klin, presumably, worked one of the dead pilots.


Some journalists questioned humanitarian mission helicopter, as one of the videos from the scene showed an empty block of missiles preserved after the crash. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation assures that "in the areas of the city of Aleppo, which are under the control of armed formations, a humanitarian cargo - 500 food kits - was landed from a Mi-8 helicopter."
The plane crashed in the territory, which, presumably (18+), belongs to the group "Jaysh al-Fateh" ("Army of Conquest"). It is a coalition of militant factions opposing the Syrian government in a civil war.

August 1, 18:40 Sergei Rudskoy, head of the main operational department of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said that the helicopter was shot down over an area controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation.

"Today, a terrorist act was committed, as a result of which a Russian Mi-8 military transport helicopter was shot down, returning from a humanitarian mission to deliver food and medicine to the residents of the city of Aleppo. On board were three crew members and two officers of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria," he said.

Also, according to Rudskoy, a group of up to 5,000 militants on Sunday tried to carry out an attack southwest of Aleppo, but was repulsed by the Syrian army with the support of Russian aviation. "The attack was preceded by a suicide bombing of four BMPs filled with explosives at the positions of government troops. The offensive was carried out under the leadership of Jabhat al-Nusra," he said.

"Over 800 militants, 14 tanks, ten infantry fighting vehicles, more than 60 vehicles with installed weapons were destroyed during the hostilities," Rudskoy specified, adding that Russian aviation actively supports the actions of the Syrian army in the Aleppo region to repel militant attacks, delivering selective strikes. At the same time, Rudskoy emphasized, Russian aviation unlike the US-led coalition, it does not strike at targets located within city limits.

TASS


August 1, 20:59 Gazeta.ru, citing a source in the Ministry of Defense, named the names of the three dead crew members (the names of the other two dead soldiers are still unknown):
The commander of the Mi-8 military transport helicopter shot down in Syria was 33-year-old captain Roman Pavlov, he left behind a wife and daughter, a source in the military department told Gazeta.ru.

Pavlov and pilot-navigator 29-year-old senior lieutenant Oleg Shelamov, whose documents were placed in social network A number of Twitter users were graduates of the Syzran Higher Military Aviation Pilot School.

The flight engineer of the crew was 41-year-old captain Alexei Shorokhov. He left behind a wife and two children, a son and a daughter.


According to 63.ru, graduates of the Syzran Higher Military Aviation Pilot School (SVVAUL) were on board the aircraft.


Condolences in connection with the attack on the Russian plane were expressed, in particular, in Washington. Meanwhile, the UN said it was monitoring "the escalation of the situation in the city of Aleppo and around," calling for "the earliest possible restoration and strengthening of the ceasefire."

August 4, 03:40 A Syrian organization calling itself the "General Foundation for Prisoners" Affairs, which has not previously been featured in information field, stated that the bodies of the dead Russians are with her. The group also demanded the release of prisoners from Syrian prisons. It is reported by RBC with reference to Reuters:

According to the agency, the group said it was holding the bodies of five Russians. The group is ready to hand over the bodies if prisoners who are held in Damascus-controlled prisons and also held by Hezbollah in Lebanon are released. The statement does not specify the names of the prisoners and their number.

The group also demanded an end to the siege of areas that are blocked by the Syrian army and its allies. Representatives of the "General Fund for Prisoners" insist on the delivery of a significant amount of humanitarian aid to people living in these territories.

According to Reuters, the statement shows documents that, presumably, belong to those who died as a result of the Mi-8 crash.


August 4, 11:51 Several bodies of dead Russians are at the hands of the Jabhat fath al-Sham militants (the new name is Jabhat al-Nusra, the group is banned in Russia), a source close to the command of the Aleppo militia told RIA Novosti. "We don't know for sure yet whether the terrorists have two or three bodies," he said.

This is the second helicopter with Russians shot down in Syria in the last 30 days. On July 9, the terrorists of the "Islamic State" banned in the Russian Federation. Two Russian instructor pilots Ryafagat Khabibulin and Evgeny Dolgin, who were on board, died.

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In Syria, on the morning of August 1, a helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces was shot down. The Mi-8 was returning to the Khmeimim airfield after successfully completing a humanitarian mission: it is for the civilians of Aleppo. In the province of Idlib, the car was hit by fire from the ground and fell in an area occupied by terrorists. The Russian Ministry of Defense has already confirmed that those who were on board,.

Armed men quickly surround the burning wreckage in black clouds of smoke - this is a Russian Mi-8 helicopter. The frame was burned to the ground, and some parts were almost intact, such as the tail rotor blades. Shouts of "Allah Akbar", Arabic speech and automatic bursts are heard.

A Russian helicopter delivered a humanitarian cargo to the province of Aleppo. He was already returning back to the Khmeimim air base when, in the south of the province of Idlib, he was overtaken by a homemade rocket anti-aircraft complex, which in Lately quite often used in Syria by various terrorist groups.

"The helicopter was shot down from the ground over the area under the control of the armed formations of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group and those who joined it," Sergey Rudskoy, head of the main operational department of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, explained.

The Mi-8 is one of the most widespread helicopters in the world, a simple and reliable machine. The first sample flew into the air back in 1961, but until now the "eight" is in service with almost all countries of the globe.

The Mi-8AMTSh, also known as the "Terminator", and it is this modification that is used in Syria, this time carried out a purely civilian mission. There were five people on board: three crew members and two officers from the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties.

"Those who were in the helicopter, according to information received from the Ministry of Defense, died. They died heroically, because they tried to steal the car in order to minimize casualties on the ground. The Kremlin expresses deep condolences to all the relatives of our dead servicemen," the spokesman emphasized. chapters Russian state Dmitry Peskov.

Aleppo is now under siege by Syrian government forces, and inside the encirclement, in addition to ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra militants banned in Russia, there are 200,000 civilians. Together with official Damascus, the Russian military announced the start of a humanitarian operation: special corridors were organized from the city, along which anyone who wanted to leave the besieged Aleppo. And at the checkpoints - even though the mission has just begun - there are already a lot of refugees. For many, evacuation from the city is the only chance to survive.

"I knew the way and was able to escape here. They immediately took me in and met me. The state takes care of us. I hope that my other children will also be able to escape. They were caught by militants. They used me and my children as human shields," says a Syrian woman .

It has been announced that those who wish to lay down their arms may also leave the city. Eighty-two members of gangs have already surrendered. The militants responded to a large-scale humanitarian operation with terror.

"The terrorist groups of ISIS," Jabhat al-Nusra "and the formations of the so-called" moderate opposition "that have joined them, continue continuous attacks on the units of the Syrian armed forces, both in the north of Aleppo and in the south, in order to encircle the city. The use of suicide bombers," Sergey Rudskoy stated.

In a week - two hundred and fifty killed and nine hundred wounded local residents. The militants deliberately destroy civilians. On August 1, they fired again from jet systems salvo fire handicraft neighborhoods of Al Khalidiya, Leramon, Al Assad, Nairab Airport and shopping mall"Castello".

The Ministry of Defense announced the loss of another helicopter of the Aerospace Forces as part of an operation against militants in Syria. According to the agency, on August 1, a Mi-8 military transport helicopter returning to the Khmeimim airbase after delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo was fired from the ground in the Syrian province of Idlib. Earlier, the Al-Jazeera TV channel reported that a helicopter shot down by the opposition fell in the south of Aleppo province.

“On board the helicopter were three crew members and two officers of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria. The fate of Russian servicemen is being ascertained through all available channels," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The opposition news agency Shahba Press reported, “ what all crew members were killed. The Kremlin said that there is "no exact information on the number of deaths as a result of the incident yet."

“Those who were in the helicopter, according to information received from the Ministry of Defense, died. They died heroically, because they tried to steal the car in order to minimize casualties on the ground. The Kremlin expresses deep condolences to all the relatives of our dead servicemen, ”the presidential press secretary told reporters.

The General Staff is trying to clarify the whereabouts of Russian servicemen. The head of the Russian Armed Forces, a lieutenant general, said that “according to available information, the helicopter was shot down from the ground over an area controlled by armed formations and detachments of the so-called “moderate opposition” that joined it. He qualified the incident as a terrorist act.

“Today, a terrorist act was committed as a result of which a Russian Mi-8 military transport helicopter was shot down, returning from a humanitarian mission to deliver food and medicine to the residents of the city of Aleppo,” the general said.

— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) August 1, 2016

MENA journalist Björn Stritzel also tweeted a photo of a missile cluster with the caption: "In Soviet Russia, 57mm rockets are considered humanitarian aid."


Analyst of the International Strategic Institute IISS, editor of The Military Balance Joseph Dempsey in his microblog draws attention to the details of the rotorcraft, calling the model Mi-8 AMTSh (transport and assault modification). In particular, on a container placed in the tail section of the helicopter with, presumably, the President-S electronic warfare complex.


Recall that the Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria was established on February 22, 2016 at the Khmeimim airbase to facilitate the negotiation process on reconciliation between representatives of the Syrian authorities and the opposition, with the exception of groups banned in Russia and other countries " Islamic State(ISIS), Jabhat al-Nusra and other organizations recognized as terrorist by the UN Security Council, as well as to conclude ceasefire agreements and organize the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Last week, Russia, together with the Syrian government, launched a new stage of a humanitarian operation in Syria - four humanitarian corridors were opened in the besieged city of Aleppo: three for civilians and one for militants with weapons and equipment. Since then, the number of settlements in the SAR that have joined the truce has reached 327. In the last 24 hours alone, agreements on reconciliation have been concluded with representatives of 17 settlements in the provinces of As-Suwayda and Latakia.

According to the center, the cessation of hostilities has been observed in most provinces over the past 24 hours.

Nevertheless, four violations were recorded in the province of Damascus during the day, and two more in Latakia.

“The formations of the Jaish al-Islam group, which considers itself to be an opposition group, were fired from mortars settlements Jaubar, Arbil, Duma and Harasta of the province of Damascus. In the province of Latakia, the armed formations of the Free Syrian Army shelled the settlements of Tubal and Zuaykat,” the bulletin says.

ALL PHOTOS

In the Syrian province of Idlib on Monday, August 1, a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down. Five military men were on board: three crew members and two officers, Interfax was told in the press service and information department of the Russian Defense Ministry. They all died. The head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Sergei Rudskoy, said that the crash area is under the control of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (banned in the Russian Federation).

"On August 1, in the province of Idlib, as a result of shelling from the ground, a Russian Mi-8 military transport helicopter returning to the Khmeimim airbase after delivering humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo was shot down," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"There were three crew members and two officers of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria on board the helicopter," the Russian military department said.

The Ministry of Defense said that they were investigating the fate of the military. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that everyone in the helicopter died.

“Unfortunately, you already know the tragic news that came from Syria. A helicopter crashed there, which was shot down from the ground,” Peskov said. “Everyone who was in the helicopter, as far as we know, died. They died heroically, because tried to take the car away in order to minimize casualties on the ground," Peskov said.

He added that the Kremlin deeply sympathizes with the relatives of the dead servicemen, RBC reports.

Meanwhile, Shahba Press, which is close to the opposition, reports only four dead, writes The Wall Street Journal.

Later, a video of the burning wreckage of the helicopter and local residents gathered around them was published on the Syria Today Twitter account.

August 1, 2016

One of the photographs shows how the militants are dragging the body along the ground - presumably one of the soldiers who were in the helicopter, according to the militants - the pilot.

According to information not yet confirmed by the Russian military, the pilot's name is Oleg Shelamov, judging by his passport data, he is a native of the city of Torzhok, Tver Region.

According to CIT, the place of work of the deceased pilot is Klin near Moscow.