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Russian jet downed and pilot killed by Syrian rebels

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Syrian militants downed a Russian fighter jet and killed its pilot in northwest Syria on Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

The pilot flew a fighter jet, known as a Su-25, over the Idlib province when he was hit by a portable anti-aircraft missile system, Russia’s news agency TASS reported the defense ministry saying.

Image: People walk amidst the rubble of the Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet scattered on the ground, in Ma'saran village near Saraqeb city, in Eastern Idlib countryside, Syria, on Feb. 3, 2018. Image: People walk amidst the rubble of the Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet scattered on the ground, in Ma'saran village near Saraqeb city, in Eastern Idlib countryside, Syria, on Feb. 3, 2018.

People walk amidst the rubble of the Russian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet scattered on the ground, in Ma’saran village near Saraqeb city, in Eastern Idlib countryside, Syria, on Feb. 3, 2018. Abdalla Saad / EPA

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the pilot ejected from the plane before it crashed but was later engaged and killed by terrorists.

The successful downing of a Russian warplane by Syrian rebels is considered to be quite rare.

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Shortly after the crash, Syrian rebels released a video of them by the plane’s wreckage and allegedly the Russian pilot’s body. They claimed responsibility for downing the jet.

Image: Smoke billows from the site of a downed Sukhoi-25 fighter jet in Syria's northwest province of Idlib on Feb. 3, 2017. Image: Smoke billows from the site of a downed Sukhoi-25 fighter jet in Syria's northwest province of Idlib on Feb. 3, 2017.

Smoke billows from the site of a downed Sukhoi-25 fighter jet in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib on Feb. 3, 2017. Omar Haj Kadour / AFP – Getty Images

The details of that video were not independently verified by NBC News.

The Idlib province, where the plane crashed, is located just southwest of the Syrian city of Aleppo, which has been ravaged during the ongoing Syrian Civil War. The area remains under the control of Al-Nusra, a jihadist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Russia and Turkey are “taking measures” to return the body of the pilot, Russian media reported.