The ministry has revealed the preliminary information on possible reasons behind the downing, saying that the plane was supposedly shot down from a portable anti-aircraft missile system.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that the pilot ejected himself from the downing aircraft and managed to survive, but was killed during a battle with terrorists.
“The pilot reported on a bailout in an area controlled by rebels Jabhat al-Nusra. When conducting a fight with terrorists, the pilot died,” the Defense Ministry said.
According to the ministry, Russia and Turkey, peace guarantor in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone, are taking all possible efforts to bring the body of the killed pilot back.
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