(Washington Post) A Russian Mi-28 helicopter crashed in Syria Tuesday, according to a statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense. Its two crew members were killed, and the aircraft was said to have crashed because of technical reasons.
Reports on social media indicated that the helicopter, known in Russia as the Mi-28 Night Hunter and among NATO countries as the Havoc, is an advanced gunship that appears to have first arrived in Syria in November but has only recently been used extensively in combat. In late March, videosposted online showed the helicopter supporting Syrian army offensive operations in ISIS-held Palmyra. […]
The gunship’s crash and continued deployment in Syria is indicative of Russia’s shift in battlefield operations after February’s promised cessation of hostilities, according to Dmitry Gorenburg, a senior research scientist in the Strategic Studies division of CNA and an associate at Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.
“Rather than conducting large scale airstrikes, the goal now is to provide close air support for the Syrian military as it seeks to gain more territory in ISIS controlled areas,” Gorenburg said in an email.
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