Pilot of Downed Su-24 Awarded Hero of Russia Title Posthumously

By The Moscow Times

Nov. 25, 2015

Russian President Vladimir Putin posthumously awarded Oleg Peshkov — the deceased pilot of the Russian fighter-bomber Su-24 that was downed in Syria by the Turkish military on Tuesday — with the Hero of Russia title, the Kremlin's official website reported in a statement.

He also posthumously awarded the Order of Courage to Alexander Posynich, the marine contractor killed during a rescue operation on Wednesday, and Konstantin Murakhtin, the surviving navigator of the Su-24 warplane.

The Russian Su-24 was hit by an air-to-air missile from a Turkish F-16 interceptor close to the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday morning. Turkey said the jet had violated its airspace while Russia insisted that the plane was on Syrian territory.

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