A picture taken on February 3, 2018, shows smoke billowing from the site of a downed Sukhoi-25 fighter jet in the the Syrian city of Saraqib, southwest of Aleppo. Rebel fighters shot down a Russian plane over Syria's northwest Idlib province and captured its pilot, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. / AFP / Omar Haj Kadour
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Russian pilot has been killed by Syrian militants after ejecting from his fighter jet when it was shot down near Idlib in northwestern Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed Saturday evening.
A Syrian militant, who refused to give his name, told AP the Russian pilot had landed alive, but was killed while resisting capture by rebels, opening fire on them with his handgun.
Several unverified videos are circulating on social media claiming to show the wreckage of a Soviet-made Su-25 jet and the bloodied body of the Russian pilot. One of the gunmen surrounding the body shouts: “He is Russian.”
A rebel source told Reuters the jet was shot down over Khan al-Subl, a town near the city of Saraqeb, close to a major highway that has come under repeated air attack in recent days.
The Russian Defense Ministry believes the jet was shot down by a man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD). It confirmed it is now trying to retrieve the pilot’s body.
There have been more than 35 airstrikes on Saraqeb since late Friday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Tahrir al-Sham, formally known as Al-Nusra, has claimed responsibility for shooting down the jet, according to Reuters.
The Russian Defense ministry has released footage reportedly showing a series of retaliatory air strikes. It claims to have killed up to 30 militants, but Rudaw has not been able to independently verify this figure.
“A series of high-precision weapons strikes has been delivered on the area controlled by the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, from which a MANPADS missile was launched at the Russian Su-25 jet,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, TASS reports.
“According to radio intercepts, more than 30 Jabhat al-Nusra militants were killed," it added.
The Ibaa News Agency of the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee said Russian and Syrian jets and helicopters have been striking Saraqeb and Tel Mardeekh village in Idlib province since the early hours of Saturday.
More than 270,000 have been displaced in Idlib since the Syrian government launched its fresh assault on December 15, according to the UN.
Moscow has been conducting air strikes in Syria since September 2015.
Since December, Russian fighter jets have been involved in a fresh Syrian government offensive against rebels in Idlib.
Five Russian military personnel were killed when a helicopter was shot down over Syria in August 2016.
Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24M in November 2015, accusing Moscow of violating its airspace.
Last updated 11:11 p.m.
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