© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov
The terrorists hunting down the air navigator from the downed Su-24 in Syria were equipped with sophisticated direction finder equipment, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Thursday.
The rescue operation took 12 hours.
"As soon as our pilot was safe, this area was targeted by massive Russian airstrikes an artillery bombardment by Syrian government forces for a prolonged period of time. Terrorists and other 'mysterious' groups operating in this area have been eliminated."
Turkey Denies Having Released Recordings of Contacts With Downed Russian Su-24
Turkish authorities have informed the Russian military attache that they did not provide the media with audio recordings of alleged radio contacts between their F-16 fighter and the downed Russian Su-24 aircraft, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.
"Representatives of the Turkish General Staff have stated that they did not share such material with the media. If so, this confirms yet again that the recordings of the Turkish pilots' contacts with our crew that emerged today are another fake," Maj. Gen. Konashenkov told reporters.
"Our military attache was informed that it was impossible to hand over any materials regarding the attack on the Russian plane by a Turkish F-16 on November 24," the spokesman said.
On November 24 a Russian Su-24 bomber was downed by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 jet over Syrian territory. One of the two Su-24 pilots was killed by fire from the ground after ejecting from the plane.
Comment: Well done Russia and Syria!