Russian military refutes rumors of journalists hit at Zapad-2017 exercise

Rumors of a fire attack on a group of journalists that allegedly happened at the Zapad-2017 exercise has been dismissed by the Western Military District as a falsehood and provocation.

"There were no incidents involving army aviation during an episode of the strategic exercise Zapad-2017 on September 18. Hundreds of Russian and foreign mass media, as well as military attaches from more than 50 countries were watching the exercise. All rumors in the social networks about missiles fired on a crowd of journalists and heavy casualties are either a deliberate provocation or just somebody’s foolish act," TASS cited the statement as saying.

Earlier, some media claimed that a Ka-52 helicopter accidentally fired missiles at spectators near the Luzhsky proving ground near St. Petersburg.

The Western Military District stressed that the video uploaded to social networks showed a different incident, which occurred when helicopter crews were practicing attacks on ground targets.

"The homing system of one of the helicopters locked on a wrong target by mistake. An unguided missile hit a truck. There was no one in side," the Western Military District added.