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 Releasing 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.
The official said Russia’s military attache in Ankara visited the Turkish Armed Forces General Staff on Wednesday to obtain documents "of alleged radio exchanges between the Turkish F-16 fighter crew with the Russian Su-24 bomber pilots."
Unverified audio recordings circulated online contain barely audible voices identifying themselves as the Turkish Air Force and calling to "change your heading south immediately." The address in the audio does not mention threats to fire a missile.
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.
The Turkish General Staff similarly denied releasing a map allegedly detailing the Russian aircraft's course before it was shot down.
