Citing unnamed “military-diplomatic sources,” Russian daily Kommersant reported yesterday that seven Russian planes were destroyed by rebel shelling at the Hmeymim air base in Syria on December 31.
At least four Su-24 bombers, two Su-35S fighters and an An-72 transport plane, as well as an ammunition depot, were destroyed by the shelling and more than 10 servicemen were wounded in the attack by “radical Islamists,” Kommersant said on its website.
The Russian Ministry of Defense had not commented.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Ministry said a Mi-24 helicopter had crash-landed in Syria on December 31 due to a technical fault and two pilots died.
