“We have taken note that the downed Russian plane was fulfilling a mission <…> It was downed while completing a mission on destroying terrorist targets in Syrian territory. The downing of the Russian plane is a loss in international efforts in the fight against terrorism,” Hong said.
Since September 30, Moscow has been conducting airstrikes against positions of the Islamic State (IS, or Daesh in Arabic) militant group, outlawed in Russia, in Syria at President Bashar Assad's request.
On November 24, a Su-24 aircraft was brought down in Syria by an air-to-air missile fired from a Turkish F-16 fighter. According to Ankara, the missile was shot in response to a violation of Turkish airspace. The Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command said that the Su-24 never crossed into Turkish airspace.
