By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor on November 24, 2015
One of the two Mi-8 helicopters involved in the
operation was damaged by gunfire and made an emergency landing in a neutral
area, one contracted marine was killed, Russian General Staff reports
MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. A search and rescue
operation involving two Mi-8 helicopters was conducted on Tuesday to evacuate
pilots who had ejected themselves from the downed Russian Su-24 bomber in
Syria, chief of the main operations department of the Russian General Staff
Sergey Rudskoy told journalists on Tuesday.
“One of the helicopters involved in the operation was
damaged by gunfire and made an emergency landing in a neutral area,” he said.
“One contracted marine was killed. The search and rescue team and the
helicopter crew were evacuated and are now at the Hmeymim airbase.
The helicopter was destroyed by mortar fire from a
territory controlled by terrorists, Rudskoy said.
The search and rescue operation to save the Su-24
pilots continues, he added.
According to preliminary information, one of the
pilots was killed in midair by fire from the ground, he said.
“According to accurate data of objective monitoring,
our plane did not cross the Turkish border,” he said. “It is confirmed by the
data from Syria’s missile defense system. Moreover, the Hmeymim airfield’s
radar surveillance data registered violation of the Syria airspace by the
attacking Turkish jet.”
“Presumably, the plane was hit by a short-range
missile with an infra-red seeker,” he said. “Objective monitoring devices
registered no attempts by the Turkish plane to establish radio or visual
contact with our crew. The Su-24 plane was hit by a missile over Syria’s
territory. It fell down in the Syrian territory four kilometers off the
border.”
A Russian Su-24 frontline bomber was shot down at
10:24 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday while on a combat mission in Syria by a
Turkish F-16 fighter jet.
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