Russian military general staff spokesman Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi confirmed on Tuesday night that Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 warplane and that one of the pilots was killed by fire from the ground as he parachuted from the plane.
The Turkish military said it shot down the Russian plane after it entered Turkish airspace and ignored 10 warnings from the Turkish side.
Russia’s military denied the statement and said that, according to its investigation information, Turkey’s plane had crossed the Syrian border.
“Based on objective monitoring data, our plane did not go across the Turkish border. This was confirmed by the Syrian air defense forces. In addition, according to the reconnaissance radar data from the Hemeimeem Air Base, we found the Turkish plane violated Syrian airspace,” said Rudskoi.
Russia’s military said Turkey’s action violated the flight safety memorandum signed by Russia and the United States, which also applies to other countries in the air union, including Turkey.
Rudskoi also said Russian helicopters are currently combing the area where the jet came down in search for the pilots.
He said the Russian military general staff has decided to cancel its military relationship with Turkey and to take additional measures in order to safeguard its military’s safety at the Syrian air force base.
“First of all, all of our air strikes will be conducted under the cover of fighters. Secondly, we will take actions to strengthen air defense capabilities. Our cruiser ‘Moscow’ will be equipped with the ‘FORT’ air defense system like the S300. It will stay by the Latakia area,” Rudskoi said. (CCTV)