LATAKIA (Sputnik) — The Russian Defense Ministry denied on Thursday reports of alleged fatalities during an attack on Russian Aerospace Forces’ helicopter in Syria, Russian reconciliation center in Syria’s representative said.
According to him, the helicopter made a forced landing some 25 miles from Palmyra when performing a planned flight to deliver humanitarian aid.
"During the inspection of a helicopter by a crew, militants launched a mortar attack on a landing site. Helicopter’s damage did not allow it to independently fly back to the base. The crew was not injured and was promptly returned by a search-and-rescue helicopter to the Hmeymim airbase," the representative said.