The body of Oleg Peshkov — the Russian pilot killed after his Su-24 bomber was shot down by Turkish forces on the Turkish-Syrian border on Nov. 24 — was flown back to Russia on Monday, Russian media reported, quoting a statement from Russia's Defense Ministry.
See the photo gallery: Remains of Russian Pilot Shot Down in Syria Returned to Russia
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the head of the country's air force Viktor Bondarev met the plane at the Chkalovsky military airport near Moscow, according to news reports.
Peshkov will be buried on Dec. 2 in Lipetsk, south-west Russia, where his immediate family are based, the Interfax news agency wrote Monday.
A separate ceremony is also set to take place in the capital, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper reported on the same day.
Peshkov has been posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, the country's highest honorary distinction, for “heroism, valor and courage demonstrated while on military duty,” Interfax wrote, quoting spokespeople for the presidential administration.
He was killed by ground fire while parachuting into Syrian territory, after his plane was downed by a Turkish jet. Turkey later insisted that the Su-24 had veered into its airspace — a claim Moscow denies.
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