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WARNING – SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND THIS FOOTAGE DISTRESSING

The attack, purportedly by rebels the Free Syrian Army using an American TOW missile, has left one Russian soldier searching for the stricken pilots dead, according to reports.

The clip was uploaded to YouTube with a caption boasting that a helicopter from the "infidel axis" had been destroyed.

It comes amid reports that Syrian rebels shot down a Russian chopper coming to the aid of two pilots shot down by the Turkish military.

The pair, both now believed to be alive, according to Turkish officials, were accused of repeatedly violating Turkish airspace and were blasted out of the sky this morning.

A narrator on the new footage triumphantly gloats over the top of the video, exclaiming "Allahu Akbar (God is great) as the missile hits and mangled wreckage from the craft is blasted into the air.

(Image: SG) (Image: SG)

Both pilots are believed to have escaped the blast, but rebel groups in Syria earlier claimed to have retrieved the corpses of both men.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin was left enraged by the Turkish attack, promising "serious consequences" to Ankara after being "stabed in the back".

At present the footage has not been verified, but the YouTube channel it appeared on has uploaded numerous videos of fighters in the Middle East.

(Image: IG) (Image: IG)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least ten people were on the helicopter when it forced to land by a rebel attack.

However spokesman Rami Abdulrahman said all had been evacuated by the time the explosion hit.

The Russian defence ministry did not answer calls from Reuters seeking comment on the reports about the helicopter.