Russian transport helicopter shot down in Syria

A Russian helicopter carrying three crew and two officers has been shot down in Syria, according to the defence ministry.

The Mi-8 transport helicopter was returning to Hmeimim base in Idlib province after delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo when it came under attack from the ground on Monday, the Russian ministry said.

The fate of the Russian servicemen was unknown.

Images shared on social media apparently showed a dead body stripped of clothes and Russian identity documents taken from the helicopter, Reuters reported.

Rebel fighters in Aleppo have launched a major military operation aimed at breaking a weeks-long regime siege of the opposition-controlled eastern part of the Syrian city.

About 250,000 civilians are believed to be living in the rebel-controlled territory, and their plight has drawn growing international alarm. The area has been subjected to an extended aerial campaign from the forces of Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies, destroying several of the last hospitals in the area.

Syrian government troops imposed the siege after seizing high ground overlooking the Castello road, a vital artery and the only supply route into opposition territory from Turkey, which staunchly backs the opposition and has called for Assad’s overthrow.

Hundreds of opposition troops appear to be taking part in the multi-pronged offensive, launched across a wide front. Rebels say they have pushed back government forces across territory in the north and south of the city, taking control of areas that have been used as staging grounds for loyalist militias.

The campaign was launched on Sunday night, on the eve of the 71st anniversary of the founding of the Syrian army.

Opposition activists in Aleppo said rebel supporters burned thousands of rubber tyres in advance of the offensive in an attempt to obscure troop movements and limit the visibility of Syrian and Russian warplanes patrolling the skies. Videos posted online showed vast plumes of smoke enveloping the city, which was once the country’s commercial capital.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organisation that monitors the conflict, described the campaign as the largest military offensive launched by the rebels against government forces in years.

Aleppo has been a battleground since the opposition stormed it in 2012, taking control of roughly half of Syria’s second-largest city. Its loss would be a crushing blow to the five-year rebellion, perhaps an irreversible one that would cement Assad’s control over the nation’s urban centres.

Humanitarian agencies have been warning that the situation in Aleppo was dire and deteriorating rapidly, with untold numbers of civilian casualties due to indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling.

The Red Cross described the situation as “devastating and overwhelming,” while Médecins sans Frontières said four of the hospitals it supports in the city were bombed over the past week alone.