MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia denied a report in daily newspaper Kommersant that seven Russian planes had been destroyed by rebel shelling at Syria's Hmeymim air base on Dec. 31, the TASS news agency on Thursday quoted the defense ministry as saying.
The ministry also said two Russian service personnel were killed in a mortar attack on the base by rebels, according to TASS.
Kommersant report's late on Wednesday detailed the single biggest loss of military hardware for Russia since it launched air strike in Syria in autumn 2015, with reportedly more than 10 servicemen wounded in the attack by "radical Islamists."
Kommersant said at least four Su-24 bombers, two Su-35S fighters and an An-72 transport plane, as well as an ammunition depot, were destroyed by the shelling, citing two "military-diplomatic" sources.