Posted on 07/12/2016 4:01:33 PM PDT by BBell
MOSCOW — It was a heroic and straightforward story, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. It also wasn’t true, say military analysts and news reports.
Two Russian pilots were killed Friday in Syria when a Syrian Mi-25 helicopter was shot down by the Islamic State militant group near the city of Palmyra, the ministry said. The pilots were on a training mission when they received an urgent request to fight off an Islamic State offensive that threatened to capture an important, elevated position nearby.
“Crew commander Ryafagat Khabibulin made a decision to attack the terrorists,” the state-run Tass news agency quoted the ministry as saying, adding that the pilots had been nominated for military awards. “Owing to the Russian pilots’ correct actions, the terrorists’ attack was thwarted.”
Soon, video of the attack appeared on an Islamic State website. An explosion near the rear rotor sends the gunship into a tailspin, and it crashes into regime-held territory. Anonymous military sources quoted by Russian state media suggested that the helicopter was hit by an American-made TOW antitank guided missile, suggesting that the Islamic State had benefited from U.S. weapons deliveries to rebel groups.
But according to newspaper and expert reports, the helicopter was not an Mi-25 (the export version of Russia’s old Mi-24 attack helicopter), but Russia’s new state-of-the-art Mi-35M helicopter, which first appeared in Syria in December and, crucially, is operated only by the Russian military.
Along with Kalibr cruise missiles, the TOS-1A multiple rocket launcher and the Sukhoi Su-34 strike fighter, the Mi-35M is part of a high-tech deployment that has turned the Syrian conflict into a training ground for Russia's advanced weaponry. The gunship features advanced avionics and can carry more and heavier weapons than the Mi-24.
If the helicopter was an Mi-35M, it would indicate that the gunship was
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You are looking at the Washington Post for truth???
They are a joke.
The Globalist at the post are upset the Saudi Arabian Proxy Army ISIS is losing to Russia.
The question you need to be asking is why is the Washington Post pushing this narrative? What is their end goal?
here is the video.... maybe someone can identify the craft...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9StiQ0mbAEY&feature=youtu.be
USSR isn’t globalist?
USSR does not exist.
The 24 and 35 are cousins. Going to be hard to tell
With that video. Loss of a tail rotor at speed would be survivable, what ever damage caused the pitch up was the thing that killed them.
:o)
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