Earlier today, just hours after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 warplane near the border with Syria, the FSA (more specifically Alwiya al-Ashar) released footage of fighters celebrating over the body of a dead Russian pilot.
The group would later claim to have executed both pilots after they ejected from the plane and attempted to parachute to safety.
In a second serious escalation, another FSA-aligned group claimed to have shot down a Russian search and rescue helicopter.
You can read our full coverage here [4], but just note that if the FSA's 1st Coastal Brigade did indeed use an American-made TOW to destroy a Russian aircraft, it confirms exactly what we said on Monday when we detailed the American, Turkish, and Saudi-sponsored program to supply anti-tank missiles to the Syrian opposition:
Obviously, this is the very definition of absurdity. It would be bad enough if the US were supplying TOWs to anyone in Syria. But this is Washington and Riyadh handing anti-tank missiles to forces that are firing them at the Iranians who are operating under cover of Russian airstrikes. Just to drive that home: the US is waging war against Iran and Russia with but one degree of separation.
Now, the FSA has released what it says is footage of the TOW attack: