
A Russian military helicopter has been shot down by rebels in Syria killing all five people on board, it has been revealed.

The aircraft, carrying three crew and two officers, crashed down in the Idlib province in north western Syria on its way home to a Russian airbase.

Gruesome pictures have since emerged showing what is believed to be the body of a Russian pilot being dragged through the dirt and loaded on to a truck.

It comes as mystery surrounded the discovery in the wreckage of an identification card showing a picture of a blonde woman.

Crash site: The aircraft, carrying three crew and two officers, was shot down down in the Idlib province in north western Syria today

Gruesome pictures show what is believed to be the body of a Russian pilot being dragged through the dirt after the aircraft was gunned down

Mystery surrounded the discovery in the wreckage of an ID card showing a picture of a blonde woman

Russia's Ministry of Defence said the helicopter was returning to the its main air base in the western province of Latakia following a delivery of humanitarian aid in war-torn Aleppo

The image was found along with a haul of personal belongings of those inside, including Russian drivers' licences, passports and insurance cards, as well as Orthodox Christian icons.

Russia's Ministry of Defence said the helicopter was returning to the its main air base in the western province of Latakia following a delivery of humanitarian aid in war-torn Aleppo.

Two activist groups - the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees - say rebels shot down the Mi-8.

'A Russian Mi-8 military transport helicopter was shot down from the ground after delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo,' the defence ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news agencies.

'Three crew members and two officers... were on board.'

In a later statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added: 'As far as we know from the information we've had from the defence ministry, those in the helicopter died, they died heroically, because they were trying to move the aircraft away to minimise victims on the ground.'

Videos uploaded online by Syrian opposition activists show the burning wreckage the helicopter seemingly taken in the first few moments after it crashed.

In one film, a rocket pod can be seen next to the wreckage. People standing nearby are seen taking cellphone photos and shouting 'Allahu Akbar,' or God is great in Arabic.

A Russian helicopter has been shot down by rebels in Syria, it has been revealed. Pictures show what is believed to be the wreckage

The body was piled on to the back of a truck after being dragged through the dirt in Syria

Two activist groups - the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees - say rebels shot down the Mi-8

The helicopter appears to have broken up as it crashed. In another video, its tail can be seen lying separately from the aircraft's body in flames

The helicopter that crashed near Aleppo was a Russian Mi-8 (file picture) which had reportedly been on an aid mission to the city

The helicopter appears to have broken up as it crashed. In another video, its tail can be seen lying separately from the aircraft's body in flames.

Russian air forces are supporting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's five-year-old civil war.

Around 25 miles north-east of the crash site, rebel groups are staging an offensive to break a government siege on rebel-held parts of eastern Aleppo city.

Pro-government forces on the ground are being supported by heavy air strikes in the area.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the helicopter incident. Idlib province has a strong presence of both fighters for the al-Qaeda branch in Syria known as the Nusra Front and rebels.

Around 25 miles north-east of the crash site, rebel groups are staging an offensive to break a government siege on rebel-held parts of eastern Aleppo city

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the helicopter incident. Idlib province has a strong presence of both fighters for the al-Qaeda branch in Syria known as the Nusra Front and rebels

Syrians gather around the burning wreckage of a helicopter, belonging to Russian military, after it was shot down by anti-regimist opposition forces in Tell Sultan town

In one film, a rocket pod can be seen next to the wreckage. People standing nearby are seen taking cellphone photos and shouting 'Allahu Akbar,' or God is great in Arabic

Pictures taken in the aftermath of the crash show how the helicopter burst into flames in the crash

The group announced last week that it was changing its name and relinquishing ties with al-Qaeda in an attempt to undermine a potential US and Russian air campaign against its fighters.

The group is part of a coalition of insurgent groups called Jaish al-Fateh, or Army of Conquest, which has captured most of Idlib.

In July, two Russian airmen were killed in the central Homs province when their Mi-25 helicopter was shot down by what the Defense Ministry said were ISIS fighters.

An Mi-28N helicopter gunship crashed near Homs in April, killing both crew members, but the Russian military said there was no evidence it came under fire.

Syrians living nearby flocked to the scene of the crash with pictures showing the burning wreckage of the helicopter

Inspection: A group of men examine part of the Russian helicopter while one man takes pictures on his mobile telephone

Rebels posted pictures online showing documents and identification photos found in the wreckage

Russian air forces are supporting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's five-year-old civil war and have been providing aerial support

Images shared on social media purportedly showed a dead body stripped of his clothes and Russian identity documents taken from the crashed helicopter.

Grim pictures have emerged online showing men trampling on dead crew members near the crash site

A Russian warplane was shot down by a Turkey along the Syrian border in November, and one of the two pilots was shot and killed from the ground after ejecting.

Earlier on Monday, a Syrian military official said that government forces repelled an attack by insurgents that was an attempt to break the siege imposed on rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo.

The development came a day after Syrian rebels launched the offensive to break up the government's siege of eastern, rebel-held part of the city.

The U.N. estimates some 300,000 people are still trapped in the rebel section of Aleppo, with dwindling food and medical supplies.

The U.N.'s special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura warned on Friday that basic supplies in eastern Aleppo could run out in three weeks.

Opposition activists said intense fighting was still ongoing in Aleppo on Monday. The Syrian military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, did not elaborate.

The U.N. estimates some 300,000 people are still trapped in the rebel section of Aleppo, with dwindling food and medical supplies. Pictures show a building hit by Assad's regime in Aleppo on Sunday