Russian Air Force

Russian Ambassador to France, Aleksandr Orlov, told Europe 1 radio that one of the Russian pilots who ejected from the Su-24 jet that was shot down by Turkey has managed to survive as he was picked up by the Syrian army. Both pilots were shot at as they parachuted from the plane said Russia’s defence ministry while a marine helicopter later came under fire.

The Turkish military downed the Russian Su-24 jet after it violated its air space for 17 seconds according to information that came to light at the emergency NATO meeting. In Brussels, NATO officials were concerned that Turkey did not show more restraint. Reuters reports:

Air force servicemen have a tradition of scrawling battle cries on their bombs. Russian air force servicemen scrawled their own messages against the Islamic State.

‘For Paris’ (За Париж) and ‘For our people’ (За наших) are the words seen on the sides of the FAB-250-M62 high explosive bombs ready for take-off.

The Kremlin said for the first time on Nov. 17 that a bomb had ripped apart a Russian passenger jet over Egypt last month and promised to hunt down those responsible and intensify its air strikes on Islamist militants in Syria in response. 

Turkish security forces have refuted claims by Russian Air Force Commander Viktor Bondarev that a Russian aircraft had violated Turkey's airspace on Oct. 3 for a short while, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 

A Russian Su-30 warplane was forced to enter Turkish airspace on October 3 "while performing an evasive maneuver against a surface-to-air missile system."

RT is quoting Russian Air Force commander Viktor Bondarev as saying that the Sukhoi jet was on a combat mission in Northern Syria "in very dense cloud conditions."

An alliance of Free Syrian Army-related groups in southern Syria said on Oct. 26 Russia must stop bombing rebels before they could talk about cooperating with it, saying they hadn't turned down an offer of support but Moscow must first halt its attacks. 

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov held a meeting with a senior Turkish diplomat on Oct. 18 in Istanbul, Turkish diplomatic sources said.

Turkish warplanes shot down an unidentified drone in Turkish air space near Syria on Oct. 16 and a U.S. official said Washington believed it was of Russian origin. 

The Russian defence ministry said all of its planes in Syria had safely returned to base and that all its drones were operating "as planned". 

A delegation from the Russian air force informed the Turkish military about air space violations that took place on Oct. 3 and 4 at a meeting in Ankara on Oct. 15, Turkey's armed forces said in a statement.