Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's forces battling to recapture the ancient city of Palmyra had a lot of help from above. At least one Russian Mi-28 attack helicopter--Moscow's answer to the U.S. Army's fearsome Apache gunship--flew top cover as Syrian tanks and infantry stormed the modern city adjacent to the UN World Heritage Site.
Video posted online by a pro-regime group clearly shows an Mi-28 firing a rocket from beneath one of its stubby wings. The battle for Palmyra, which ended this week as ISIS militants fled the city, apparently represented the two-seat, gun- and missile-armed Mi-28's combat debut.