GREATEST WAR EVER:

[A]ccording to newspaper and expert reports, the helicopter was not an Mi-25 (the export version of Russia's old Mi-24 attack helicopter), but Russia's new state-of-the-art Mi-35M helicopter, which first appeared in Syria in December and, crucially, is operated only by the Russian military.

Along with Kalibr cruise missiles, the TOS-1A multiple rocket launcher and the Sukhoi Su-34 strike fighter, the Mi-35M is part of a high-tech deployment that has turned the Syrian conflict into a training ground for Russia's advanced weaponry. The gunship features advanced avionics and can carry more and heavier weapons than the Mi-24.

If the helicopter was an Mi-35M, it would indicate that the gunship was Russian, not Syrian, and likely on a combat mission, instead of a training run. 

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