Russia searches for pilots from jet downed by Turkey as reports claim they are in rebel hands
A major rescue operation has been launched to bring back two Russian pilots whose jet was shot down over hostile Syrian territory by the Turkish military.
Russia and Turkey have both dispatched helicopters to search for the downed pilots, who were seen in amateur video footage parachuting to safety.
But the airmen are also being hunted by rebel Turkmen and Nusra Front forces, whose territories in the northern countryside of Latakia province have been repeatedly targeted by Russian and Syrian regime bombing raids in recent weeks.
Moscow said it had received no further contact from the pilots since their plane went down, and has sent a fleet of military helicopters to the site of the crash near the Turkish border.
But according to CNN Turk, citing local sources, one of the pilots has already fallen into Turkmen hands and the other is being sought.
Grainy footage posted online by the Hurriyet Daily News outlet purported to show Russian helicopters scouring a wooded, mountainous region near the Turkish-Syrian border.
At least two graphic images were posted to social media purporting to show one of the pilots lying dead, but they have been met with scepticism and remain unconfirmed. A video claiming to show a pilot being captured was proven to be at least two years old.
Footage from private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area, a long plume of smoke trailing behind it.
Russia searches for pilots from jet downed by Turkey as reports claim they are in rebel hands | Middle East | News | The Independent