Russian Plane Downed In Chechnya

Rebels shot down the first Russian fighter plane in the war in secessionist Chechnya on Saturday. The pilot of the Su-25 was killed, Russian state television reported.

All three Russian TV channels broadcast wreckage of the single-seat attack jet strewn more than 1 miles over a field near Grozny, the capital.

The downing was confirmed by the Russian military, which said the pilot “is believed to have died.” It was not immediately clear if the pilot was killed in the crash or afterward.

Russian planes have attacked Chechnya, often indiscriminately, for nearly two months to quash the southern republic’s independence bid.