STANBUL/MOSCOW: Turkey confirmed that it shot down a Russian warplane on Tuesday, claiming it had violated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Russia denied that the plane crossed the Syrian border into Turkish skies.
“We are looking into the circumstances of the crash of the Russian jet,” Russia’s defense ministry said. “The ministry of defense would like to stress that the plane was over the Syrian territory throughout the flight.”
Russia said the Su-24 was downed by artillery fire, but Turkey claimed that its F-16s fired on the Russian plane after it ignored several warnings. The ministry said the pilots parachuted but added that Moscow had no further contact with them.
Video footage of the incident showed a warplane on fire before crashing on a hill and two crew members apparently parachuting safely.