Downed Jet Crew Got 'No Warning From Turkey'

The rescued navigator of a Russian jet shot down by the Turkish military has said he received no warning before his plane was attacked.

The airman - who was extracted from rebel territory after a 12-hour operation - said he could not possibly have flown over Turkish airspace.

His revelations will further fuel a row between Turkey and Russia, with both countries saying the other was in the wrong.

When the navigator was asked if he could have strayed into Turkish territory, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin told Russian television: "No, this is out of the question even for a one-second possibility, as we were at the altitude of 6,000 metres and the weather was clear.

"There were no warnings either via radio communication or optically. There were no contacts at all. That’s why we flew heading combat course as per normal," he said.

"If they wanted to warn us they could have come out by flying on parallel courses. But this did not happen. And the missile came to our jet’s tail all of a sudden … We didn’t even see it to have time for missile evasive manoeuvre."

Turkish officials say the jet was warned 10 times before it was targeted by an air-to-air missile - and have released audio to try to prove it.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said Syrian and Russian special forces were involved in the operation to rescue the navigator.

He said: "The operation was successful. The engineer was delivered to our airbase, he is alive and well.

"I wanted to thank all our boys, who were working all night with great risk. At 03.40 am they completed their work."

How Turkey Could Lose Billions For Downing Jet

The Su-24 jet's pilot, Lt Col Oleg Peshkov, was shot and killed by Syrian rebels as he parachuted down.

A Russian soldier was also killed while searching for the men after his helicopter was shot at and forced to make an emergency landing, the Russian military said.

President Putin said all three would be given state awards.

A US official told the Reuters news agency that the jet's heat signature showed it was hit inside Syrian airspace after briefly entering Turkish airspace.

But Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has insisted the jet was in Turkish airspace when it was fired on.

The country's prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, also said authorities did not know the plane was Russian until "announcements of the Russian authorities".