Rebels down Russian helicopter

Seven Russian helicopters have crashed in Chechnya this year

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GROZNY, Russia (CNN) -- Four men were killed when a Russian helicopter was shot down by Chechen rebels on Tuesday.

The Interior Ministry confirmed to CNN that the Mi-8 helicopter was hit, probably with a missile, in a rebel attack. The victims were crew and passengers.

An eyewitness told Interfax news agency the helicopter rotated, fell and exploded. The aircraft was flying between one helipad and another, a military source told Interfax.

Deputy Commander of Interior Troops Stanislav Kavun was quoted as saying that "according to preliminary information, the helicopter was shot down as it was landing."

Rebels are fighting for a Chechnya independent of Russia and the pro-Moscow administration that rules the breakaway republic.

Russian troops were sent into Chechnya in 1999 after a series of attacks in the neighbouring republic of Dagestan and in Moscow, which were blamed on rebels wanting to extend the semi-autonomy the region enjoyed into full independence.

The operation overthrew the pro-independence government but failed to quell the rebellion.

Despite Russian insistence that the war in Chechnya has been won, rebels launch almost daily attacks on Russian forces.

More than 110 Russian troops died in August when a Mi-26 transport helicopter was shot down.

It was the sixth helicopter to crash in the region this year and the Russian military's worst ever aviation disaster.

A siege by Chechen gunmen at a Moscow theatre ended on Saturday when Russian special forces pumped an unnamed gas into the building before storming it.

When the gunfire subsided 117 of the 700 hostages were dead -- all but two of them from the gas -- alongside to 50 of the Chechen rebels.

The hostage-takers had been demanding an end to the war in Chechnya and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the republic.

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