One Pilot of Russian Jet Shot Down By Turkey Is 'Alive and Well' - East Idaho News
World

One Pilot of Russian Jet Shot Down By Turkey Is ‘Alive and Well’

  Published at  | Updated at

Getty 112515 Shoygu?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1448446391402Photo by Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said Wednesday that one of the Russian pilots who went missing after his fighter jet was shot down by Turkey is “alive and well.”

According to Russian state news agency TASS, the pilot was back at a Russian airbase. BBC News reports that the second pilot and a marine involved in the rescue were both killed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident a “stab in the back,” denying Turkish claims that the Russian jet had crossed into Turkey’s airspace.

Speaking on the subject of the incident, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that he had previously expressed concerns about “the implications of the military actions of the Russian Federation close to NATO’s borders.” Stoltenberg said NATO “stand[s] in solidarity with Turkey.”

Still, he called for “diplomacy and de-escalation” to “resolve this situation.”

BBC News says that Russian bombers carrying out airstrikes in Syria will now be escorted by fighter jets.

Putin said that the rescued pilot and those involved in his recovery will be award military honors. The deceased pilot, identified as Seaman Alexander Pozynich, will be given the Hero of Russia medal posthumously, as will the deceased marine, Capt. Konstantin Muraktin.

Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION