MOSCOW: Russia’s defence ministry said today one of its Su-24 fighter jets was downed in Syria, but it rejected Turkish allegations the aircraft had entered Turkish airspace.
“Today on Syrian territory, apparently as the result of fire from the ground, a Su-24 with the Russian aviation group in the Syrian Arab Republic crashed,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Internet site.
“The plane was flying at a height of 6,000 meters. The fate of the pilots is yet to be confirmed. According to preliminary information, the pilots were able to eject.”
“For the entire duration of the flight the aircraft was exclusively over Syrian territory. This was recorded by reliable monitoring methods,” the statement said.
The incident highlighted the risks to NATO member Turkey as Syrian, Russian and US coalition aircraft target various insurgent groups inside Syria often close to Turkish borders.--REUTERS