MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. The Russian military has shot down a drone launched from an area controlled by militants not far from the Hmeymim airbase, head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria, Maj. Gen. Alexei Tsygankov, said.

"At night on August 11, the airspace control equipment of Russia’s Hmeymim airbase detected an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launched from an area in the Idlib de-escalation zone controlled by illegal armed groups," the general noted. "The aerial target was destroyed by the air defense systems at a safe distance from the airbase. There was no damage, and no one was injured. Russia’s Hmeymim airbase operates as normal."

According to Tsygankov, illegal armed groups operating in the Idlib de-escalation zone continue to violate the ceasefire shelling inhabited communities in the region. He also noted that Russian military doctors had provided medical aid to five civilians over the past 24 hours.