Two military personnel died in a mortar attack on Russia’s Khmeimim airbase in Syria’s Latakia Province on December 31, the Russian Defense Ministry has said, adding that reports of seven jets being destroyed were “fake news.”
“[Russian newspaper] Kommersant’s report on the alleged ‘destruction’ of seven Russian military aircraft at Khmeimim Airbase is fake,” the ministry said in a statement.
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The MoD reasserted that the Russian Air Force deployed to Syria retains its combat readiness and continues to fulfill its duties.
Earlier, Kommersant newspaper reported citing two unnamed military and diplomatic sources that militants linked to a terrorist group shelled the airbase and destroyed seven Russian military planes, specifically four Su-24 bombers, two Su-35C fighter jets and an Antonov An-72 transport aircraft on December 31. The report also claimed that more than 10 military personnel died in the mortar attack.
Earlier on Wednesday, the ministry reported that two pilots had died and a technician had sustained injuries when a Mi-24 helicopter crashed near the Syrian Hama military airfield on New Year’s Eve.
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