Helikopterhavari - Tsjetsjenia - BBC

Chechnya helicopter crash kills at least seven

• 1 hour ago 

Image copyright Huw Evans picture agency

Image caption A military version of the Mi-8 helicopter - reportedly the type of aircraft that crashed in Chechnya

At least seven people have been killed in a helicopter crash in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, local media report.

The aircraft reportedly belonged to the Border Guard Service.
"Indeed, a helicopter has crashed in the south of Chechnya," a law enforcement officer told Interfax news agency.
According to the Meduza news website, the vehicle was an Mi-8 helicopter.
Chechnya has been the scene of an Islamist insurgency against the Russian state, although the violence has died down in recent years.

The Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, is a key Putin ally who has been placed under sanctions by the US for alleged human rights abuses.
The Kremlin dubbed the financial restrictions "illegal" and "unfriendly".