Separatist Chechen rebels today shot down aRussian Mi-8 helicopter near Moscow's main militarybase in Chechnya, killing fourservicemen.
The Interfax news agency quoted general Stanislav Kavun, deputycommander of interior ministry troops, as saying the helicopterwas downed as it prepared to land near the Khankala base.
"Preliminary data show that the helicopter was shot down asit was about to land. Four people - the crew and passengers -died," Kavun said.
An emergencies ministry spokesman in Moscow said the craft was attacked with a shoulder-launchedanti-aircraft missile.
The attack came only days after 117 people died in the worsthostage drama in Russia's history, when armed Chechen rebelsseized a Moscow theatre and held some 800 hostages for nearlythree days.
Interfax quoted eyewitnesses as saying that after it washit, the helicopter spun for some time before crashing into theground and exploding.
The crashed Mi-8 was the fourth helicopter to come downunder rebel fire in Chechnya in the last three months. Mi-8s,the workhorses of Russia's helicopter fleet, are usually used asbattle gunships in Chechnya and are often targeted by rebels.
In the worst single-day disaster to hit Russia's campaign inthe rebel region, a Mi-26 transport helicopter was shot downnear Chechnya in August with the loss of 124 lives.