The Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian plane on Tuesday, according to a Turkish military official who said the aircraft violated Turkish airspace, “despite repeated warnings”.
Russia’s defence ministry on Tuesday confirmed that one of its jets had been shot down, but insisted it had not strayed into Turkish airspace.
“Today on the territory of Syria, presumably as a result of fire from the ground, a Russian Su-24 plane crashed in the Syrian Arabic Republic,” the defence ministry said in a statement quoted by Russian news wires. “The plane was at an altitude of 6,000 metres. The fate of the pilots is being confirmed. According to preliminary data, the pilots managed to eject.”