The Russian airman who was in the plane that was shot down by Turkey says he and his compatriot never received a warning from Turkish officials.
Turkey says it gave the men 10 warnings in five minutes before being forced to shoot down the plane as it violated Turkish airspace.
But Captain Konstantin Murakhtin says the Turkish jets didn’t issue any visual or radio warnings.
Speaking from the Russian Hemeimeem air base in Syria, near the border with Turkey, Murakhtin also said there was “no way” his jet violated Turkish airspace, because the crew knew the region “like the back of their hand.”
“It’s impossible that we violated their airspace even for a second,” he added to Russian reporters. “We were flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters in completely clear weather, and I had total control of our flight path throughout.”
