Su-24 navigator: the crew did not receive any warnings from the Turkish side

The navigator of the downed Russian Su-24 bomber, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin, said that the crew had not received a warning from the Turkish side, Interfax reports .

According to Murakhtin, the missile hit the tail of the plane "suddenly", so the crew did not have time to perform an anti-missile maneuver. “In fact, there were no warnings. Neither by radio, nor visually. There was no contact at all. Therefore, we entered the combat course in the normal mode, ” quotes the navigator. RIA Novosti

He also stressed that the aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace. “I saw perfectly both on the map and on the ground where the border is and where we are. There was not even a threat of access to Turkey,” Murakhtin added.

Konstantin Murakhtin is now at the Russian Khmeimim air base in Syria. Earlier today, the information that the serviceman managed to escape was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense. The aircraft commander Oleg Peshkov died, he was posthumously awarded the Star of the Hero of the Russian Federation.

The Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber. According to Turkish authorities, the plane violated the country's airspace. Later, during the rescue operation, the rebels shot down a Russian helicopter, one of the crew members died . Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident a "stab in the back" from terrorist accomplices.