Russian Federation says second pilot of downed warplane rescued in Syria

Several hundred young activists on Wednesday hurled stones and eggs at Turkey’s embassy in Moscow and brandished anti-Turkish placards after Ankara downed a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.

The Turkish military later released what it said was an audio recording of a warning to a Russian fighter jet before it was shot down near the Syrian border.

At a business event in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey had made a “huge effort” to prevent such incidents but that the limits of its patience had been tested after repeatedly warning Russian Federation about air space incursions in recent weeks.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian Federation was forced to fly missions close to the Turkish border because that was where the militants tended to be located. The other members of the squad were successfully evacuated.

“Russia’s defense minister said the pilot was rescued in a 12-hour operation that ended in the early hours of the morning”.

“Russia says one of the helicopter crewmen was killed, but the rest were evacuated safely”.

Meanwhile, Russian Federation and Turkey continue to exchange angry rhetoric while at the same time calling for military restraint.

Speaking later in the day, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also appeared to seek to reduce tension with Moscow, saying thatRussia is Turkey’s “friend and neighbor” and insisting relations can not be “sacrificed to accidents of communication”.

Davutoglu also said Russian Federation is an “important partner and tops the list of countries with which we have shown great sensitivity in building ties”.

“We have no intention of fighting a war with Turkey”, Lavrov said.

“The S-400 anti-aircraft missile system will be deployed to the Hmeimim airbase”, Shoigu was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. “As far as we know, ISIS and other jihadi groups in Syria have no aircraft that could threaten the Russian base”, he reports.

Ankara and Moscow are already on starkly opposing sides in the over four-year Syrian civil war, with Turkey wanting to see the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad but Russian Federation one of his last remaining allies.

Shoigu also said that from now on all Russian bombers will be escorted by fighters on their combat missions in Syria.