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.
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