Rescued Russian Pilot Denies Receiving Warning Signals from Turkey

The pilot, Lt Col Oleg Peshkov, was shot dead by rebels as he parachuted to earth. The navigator, Capt Konstanin Murakhin, survived, despite initial reports that he too had been killed.

He was rescued from behind rebel lines by a Russian-Syrian mission. Speaking publicly for the first time this evening, Capt Murakhin denied that his aircraft had entered Turkish airspace "even for a single second."

He also rejected the Turkish claim that its F-16 had repeatedly warned the Russian jet before opening fire.

"There have been no warnings whatsoever," said Capt Murakhtin, who added that he wanted to keep flying missions from the base "to pay them back for my commander".

In response, the Turkish authorities released what they said was a recording of the warnings being issued, The Telegraph reported.

Lt Col Peshkov was posthumously made a Hero of Russia, the country’s highest award. Capt Murakhtin and Alexander Pozynich, a marine killed when his search and rescue helicopter was destroyed by rebels, were awarded the Order of Courage.

The incident has provoked fury in Russia, where a mob smashed windows at the Turkish embassy on Wednesday afternoon and MPs have demanded retaliation.

Police cleared the street shortly after the protest began.

The Russian authorities also appear to have threatened trade sanctions in response, and warned Russian citizens against travelling to Turkey, a major holiday destination for them.

But Foreign Minister Lavrov also hinted that Russia would resist calls from populist MPs to sever economic ties altogether.

Turkey imported $25 billion worth of Russian goods and commodities last year, mostly in the form of natural gas supplies. Turkish exports to Russia are mostly made up of textiles and food.