Russia's air forces suffer first loss in Syria

A Russian Su-24 fighter aircraft has crashed on the territory of Syria, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. It is presumed to have crashed as a result of an attack from the ground. The pilots’ fate is being established.

"Today, most likely as a result of a strike from the ground, a Su-24 aircraft from the Russian aviation group in the Syrian Arab Republic crashed on the territory of Syria," RIA Novosti cited a representative of the Ministry as saying.

"The plane was at an altitude of six thousand meters. The fate of the pilots is to be confirmed. According to preliminary data, they managed to eject themselves. The circumstances of the plane's crash are under investigation. The Defense Ministry said the plane invariably stayed within Syrian airspace. This has been established by objective monitoring data," the Ministry specified.

Earlier, Turkey’s General Staff said a plane had been warned ten times about violation of the country’s airspace before being attacked by two F-16 fighters, TASS reports.

It is reported that the Prime Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu, the Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Hulusi Akar and the Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu held a telephone conversation about the incident. The Foreign Minister was instructed to hold consultations with NATO, the UN and all interested parties on the situation on the border with Syria.

According to Turkish media reports, one of the pilots was picked up and captured by Turkmen residents of that area. It also reported that Russian helicopters, involved in the search for the crew of the crashed plane, were seen near the crash site.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, answering journalists' questions about the prospects of relations between Russia and Turkey, stressed that it is premature to come to any conclusions, because at the moment there are isn't complete and reliable information about the incident. "It would be wrong to make any assessments, assumptions or reach any conclusions before we get a full picture. Therefore, we have to be patient. It is a very serious incident, but again, it is impossible to say anything without full information. It would be wrong," he said.