This event goes beyond the frameworks of a regular fight against terrorism. Naturally our military are pursuing a heroic battle against terrorism, sacrificing themselves and their lives. Today's loss for us was like a stab in the back delivered by the accomplices of terrorists. I cannot qualify what happened today as anything else.

Our plane was shot down over Syrian territory by an air-to-air missile from a Turkish F16 aircraft.  It fell on Syrian territory four kilometres from the Turkish border.  It was flying at the altitude of 6,000 metres, one kilometre from Turkish territory when it was attacked.

Our pilots and our plane in no way threatened the Turkish Republic. This is an obvious thing. They were carrying out their duty to fight Islamic State. We established a long time ago that large quantities of oil and oil products from territory captured by Islamic State have been arriving on Turkish territory.  That's where a major money support for bandit groups comes from. And now we get stabbed in our back, and our planes, which are fighting terrorism, are struck.   

This despite the fact that we signed an agreement with our American partners to warn each other about air incidents and Turkey, as is well known, is among those who announced it was allegedly fighting against terrorism as part of the US coalition. If Islamic State militants have such money - and we are talking about tens and hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars from trading oil - plus they enjoy the protection of the armed forces of entire states, then there is no wonder they behave so boldly and recklessly. Why they kill people in the most savage way why they commit terrorist acts across the world, including in the heart of Europe.

We will of course thoroughly analyse everything that happened and today's tragic event will have serious consequences for Russo-Turkish relations. We have always treated Turkey not only as a close neighbour but as a friendly state.

I don't know who needed what occurred today. But not us by any means. And instead of immediately getting in touch with us, as far as we know, the Turkish side has contacted their NATO partners to discuss this issue and this incident. As if we shot down a Turkish plane rather than them shooting down one of ours. 

Do they want to put NATO at Islamic State's service? I do understand that each state has their regional interests. And we always respect them. But we will never tolerate such crimes like the one committed today.

Damascus, SANA – Turkey’s downing of the Russian warplane over the Syrian territory confirms beyond doubt that the Turkish government backs terrorism and is providing all forms of support to the terrorist organizations that are crumbling under the Syrian Arab Army’s strikes, a military source said on Tuesday.

Russian Defense Ministry announced earlier today that a Russian Su-24 fighter jet had been shot down as it was on a mission targeting terrorists in the northern countryside of Lattakia province.

The Ministry confirmed that the plane hadn’t violated Turkish airspace and was flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters.

In a statement to SANA, the military source condemned Turkey’s downing of the Russian aircraft, which took place at 9:23 am, as a “gross violation of the Syrian sovereignty.

The Russian jet was hit as it was on its way back from its combat mission against ISIS, the source noted.

It concluded the statement by saying that the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces stresses that “the desperate acts of aggression will only increase our determination to continue the war against the terrorist organizations with the support and help of Syria’s friends, mainly Russia.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the downing of the Russian aircraft over Syria is “a stab in the back delivered accomplices of the terrorists,” adding that the incident will have grave consequences for Russia’s relations with Turkey.