A Russian air force Su-24 fighter-bomber was downed on the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday morning, Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
A Turkish military official told the Reuters news agency that one of its F-16 interceptors shot down an unidentified aircraft that had violated its sovereign airspace.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Tuesday that the downed jet was an Su-24 flying out of its air base in Latakia, from where Moscow is conducting bombing missions in Syria.
However, Russia has contested Turkey's claim that the Su-24 violated its airspace — prompting the Turkish F-16 to down the aircraft.
“An Su-24 of the Russian aviation group has crashed in Syria after alleged fire from the ground,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement, RIA Novosti reported.
?€?The plane was flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters. The fate of the pilots is still unknown. According to the preliminary data, the pilots were able to eject,?€? the statement said, asserting the aircraft was ?€?located strictly in Syrian airspace.?€?