The ministry’s spokesman thus commented on some media reports referring to the US intelligence firm Stratfor that a group of Russian combat helicopters and two dozen trucks had allegedly been destroyed at the Tias airbase in the province of Homs.

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. All Russian combat helicopters in Syria are performing scheduled tasks and there are no casualties among personnel, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday.

"All the Russian combat helicopters staying in the Syrian Arab Republic are performing planned assignments to destroy terrorists. There are no casualties among the personnel of the Russian airbase," the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, "the rumors about the destruction of a group of Russian helicopters and two dozen trucks were created by the propagandists of the ISIL [the former name of the Islamic State terrorist organization outlawed in Russia] who unsuccessfully tried to ‘sell’ this alleged piece of news about ten days ago."

"As for the photos of the Syrian airbase, the burnt aircraft and motor vehicles, as well as numerous craters created by reactive shell explosions have been present there for more than one month. This is the result of fierce fighting for this aerodrome between the Syrian government troops and militants of terrorist groupings," the general said.

"To put aside all the lyrics and speak directly, then, apparently, the spread of such information is ‘the fair share of contribution’ by our partners in the struggle against international terrorism," the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.