By Ahmed Ghanem
ISTANBUL (AA) – A Russian MiG-29 warplane has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near the Syrian coast, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday.
The fighter jet went down near the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier while carrying out a training flight, according to the statement published by the state-owned Russia Today.
“The pilot has successfully jumped by parachute,” it said.
“The ill-fated fighter jet was among a training squadron consisting of three aircraft,” it added.
Russia launched its military intervention in Syria in September 2015 supposedly after a formal request by the Bashar al-Assad regime for military help.
In March, Russia decided to reduce its forces in the war-torn country.
Syria has been wrecked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests — which erupted as part of the “Arab Spring” uprisings — with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, more than 400,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.
