Co-Pilot of Downed Russian Jet Says He Had No Warning

The co-pilot of the Russian bomber shot down by Turkish jets on the Syrian border has said he received no warnings before the plane was fired on.

The co-pilot, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin, spoke to the Russian state news agency Sputnik at military base in Syria, where he was brought after being rescued by the Russian military overnight.

"There were no warnings. Not via the radio, not visually. There was no contact whatsoever,” Murakhtin told Sputnik.

Murakhtin and his pilot, Lieutenant-colonel Oleg Peshkov, were shot down on the Syrian-Turkish border by Turkish F16 fighters on Tuesday morning. Both men ejected but Peshkov was killed by Syrian rebels, according to Russian defense officials. Turkey has said the men’s Su-24 jet was downed because it violated Turkish airspace, a claim Russia has disputed.

The co-pilot’s comments disputed the Turkish version of how the shoot-down occurred. Turkish officials have said that the Russian plane was warned multiple times it was approaching Turkish airspace and to alter its course, saying that it received 10 warnings in five minutes. Russia’s defense ministry has disputed this, saying no warning was given and that the plane never crossed into Turkish airspace.

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