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Syrian rebels just shot down a Russian Su-25 and killed the pilot on the ground

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Multiple videos have also emerged of the strike and wreckage.
Syrian rebels shot down a Russian Su-25 in Idlib province on Saturday, and then killed the pilot on the ground, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Jaish al-Nasr, a faction in the Free Syrian Army, released footage of the Su-25 getting shot down, and more video has appeared of the wreckage.
The defense ministry said the Su-25 was shot down by a man-portable air-defense system, and that the pilot safely ejected before being killed by local forces.
The rebels tried to capture the pilot, but they shot and killed him when he fired at them with his pistol, the Associated Press reported. Graphic videos and images appearing to be the pilot, who was reportedly found without a parachute, have since emerged.
Russia and the Syrian regime have increased airstrikes in Idlib and Eastern Ghouta in the last month, two of the Syrian rebels’ last remaining strongholds.
Scores of adults and children were killed and wounded in Idlib, and about 100,000 people were displaced in the first two weeks of January alone. At least 177 civilians were killed and more than 800 were also wounded in Eastern Ghouta in that same period.
Russia’s increase in bombing runs in Idlib may have been in response to the rebel drone attack on its Hmeymim air force base in December.
Moscow later accused the US of helping the rebels target its air base, and even accused Ukraine of making the explosives.
The US and Ukraine strongly denied the claims.

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