Russian Missiles Strike Area of Su-25 Jet Downing, Killing at Least 30 Terrorists

Russian military planes have targeted the Al-Nusra-controlled area of Syria’s Idlib province where a Russian Su-25 jet was earlier downed by militants, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The military conducted “a massive precision weapon strike… on areas controlled by the Al-Nusra [terrorist] group,” the ministry said in a statement, according to RT.

 Russian Su-25 jet downed in Syria, pilot killed – Russian Defense Ministry

Earlier, the Ministry confirmed that a Russian Su-25 jet was crashed in Idlib province in north-western Syria. It added that it was probably shot down by MANPAD and that the pilot ejected but was killed by militants on the ground.

Preliminary data showed the Su-25 plane was downed by a man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD), the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The attack took place when the jet was flying over the Idlib de-escalation zone on Saturday. The pilot parachuted down into the area controlled by Al-Nusra terrorist group, the statement said. He was killed during a confrontation with the militants from an unspecified group.

Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria is now trying to retrieve the body of the Russian pilot, the Defense Ministry confirmed.

In July 2016, two pilots were killed when a Russian military helicopter was downed by Daesh militants near Palmyra.

H.M