UPDATE 4:02 AM ET
The very brief RT report I quoted in the original rpt. has been expanded with a few more details. From the additional info, it's a toss of the coin right now whether the pilot who died was killed by the Turkmen or was killed in the fall to ground:
UPDATE 3:30 AM ET
Sputnik has just picked up the same report but headlines that the Syrian Army "saved" the pilot who escaped. Haven't checked Reuters in the last few moments but when last I checked they still hadn't posted what I'll guess was a 'wire' report to news organizations. I see the New York Times has just picked up the story although it might be they've published an AP wire story on the rescue. Haven't read the Times story yet. As for the rest of U.S. media, still getting their beauty sleep.
Also I forgot to mention that last night at 8:51 PM ET Reuters reported:
"The United States believes that the Russian jet shot down by Turkey on Tuesday was hit inside Syrian airspace after a brief incursion into Turkish airspace, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said that assessment was based on detection of the heat signature of the jet."
The very brief RT report I quoted in the original rpt. has been expanded with a few more details. From the additional info, it's a toss of the coin right now whether the pilot who died was killed by the Turkmen or was killed in the fall to ground:
“The [rescue] operation is successfully over. The pilot has been delivered to our base. Safe and sound,” Shoigu said during a meeting of the Defense Committee, adding that the operation was performed by Russian and Syrian special forces.
Shoigu said the joint operation had taken about 12 hours and thanked all special forces’ personnel that took part in the operation to rescue the pilot.
The information that one of the two pilots from the downed plane is alive was released earlier on Wednesday by the Russian ambassador in France, Aleksandr Orlov. He said the pilot had been wounded.
[...]
Also on Tuesday, videos emerged allegedly showing one of the Russian pilots unconscious and surrounded by armed rebels. He was probably dead. His face is bruised and bloodied. The men seem to be happy and are praising Allah, with some regretting they hadn’t burned him on the spot.
The footage was sent by a rebel group operating in the northwestern area of Syria, where groups including the Free Syrian Army are active but Islamic State has no known presence, according to Reuters.
However, Jahed Ahmad, a representative of the 10th Brigade in the Coast, the rebel group that claimed it attacked the pilots, told AP that one of the Russian pilots was dead upon landing.The report doesn't say whether the body has been given up by the rebels.
UPDATE 3:30 AM ET
Sputnik has just picked up the same report but headlines that the Syrian Army "saved" the pilot who escaped. Haven't checked Reuters in the last few moments but when last I checked they still hadn't posted what I'll guess was a 'wire' report to news organizations. I see the New York Times has just picked up the story although it might be they've published an AP wire story on the rescue. Haven't read the Times story yet. As for the rest of U.S. media, still getting their beauty sleep.
Also I forgot to mention that last night at 8:51 PM ET Reuters reported:
"The United States believes that the Russian jet shot down by Turkey on Tuesday was hit inside Syrian airspace after a brief incursion into Turkish airspace, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said that assessment was based on detection of the heat signature of the jet."
That was the entire report.
****
I'll add Reuters link when I find it at Reuters; it's not yet up at Google News:
****
I'll add Reuters link when I find it at Reuters; it's not yet up at Google News:
"One on board was wounded when he parachuted down and killed in a savage way on the ground by jihadists in the area. The other managed to escape. According to the latest information he has been picked up by the Syrian Army and should be going back to the Russian Air Force base," Ambassador Aleksandr Orlov told Europe 1 radio as cited by Reuters.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
[END REPORT]
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