Dramatic footage emerged on Friday of a Russian search-and-rescue mission conducted near Palmyra which saved the lives of two Russian pilots who found their aircraft downed by technical failure and subsequently struck by an ISIS missile.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said all Russian military personnel survived the incident and landed safely at the Khmeimim Airbase in Latakia just hours later.

The incident took place near Huwaysis, a village in eastern Homs located on the frontline between the Syrian Arab Army and ISIS.

ISIS fighters later swarmed the site and posed for pictures with the destroyed Russian helicopter for propaganda purposes:

In July 2016, a similar event took place in the same region, resulting in the death of two Russian pilots.