Turkish F-16 shoots down Russian fighter jet which 'violated airspace' near Syrian border     

Turkey says it warned the plane 10 times in five minutes - Russia said it can prove the plane was flying in Syria   

Turkey has shot down a Russian fighter jet close to its border with Syria, it has emerged.
Turkish military officials say a warplane shot down the jet because it violated its airspace.
The plane exploded in the air causing a huge fireball which fell on the Turkmen mountain on the Syrian side of the border.
Video footage captured in the area shows the jet covered in flames plummeting to the ground.
Russia has since confirmed one of its jets was shot down. Officials in Moscow also say they can prove it was flying in Syrian airspace.
The Russian Su-24 fighter plane was believed to be flying at 6,000 metres.
The two pilots managed to eject with one of the pilots now in the hands of Turkmen forces in Syria. However, a search is underway for the other pilot.

                 

The plane can be seen crashing towards the ground after it was attacked by a Turkish fighter plane

As reported by RT.com, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement:
“Today an aircraft from the Russian Air Force in the Syrian Arab Republic crashed in Syria supposedly shot down from the ground......
“...During the flight, the aircraft was flying only within the borders of Syria.

"That was registered by objective monitoring data,” the ministry added.
Turkish presidential sources said the downed plane was Russian made. The decision to shoot down the jet was taken directly by the Turkish Prime Minister.

                         

               Military officials in Moscow have now confirmed the plane was Russian

Russian fighter planes have been flying in the area as part of the Russian bombing campaign in Syria.
Turkish officials say the plane was warned 10 times in five minutes before it was eventually shot down.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the warplane crashed in a mountainous area in the northern countryside of Latakia province.

                       

     This picture is thought to show one of the pilots parachuting towards the ground

This is where there had been aerial bombardment earlier and where pro-government forces have been battling insurgents on the ground.
Both Russia and its ally, Syria's government, have carried out strikes in the area.
A Syrian military source said the reported downing was being investigated.
Footage from private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area, a long plume of smoke trailing behind it. 
                
This image shows the burning Russian plane plummeting into the Turkmen mountain

                   

     Russian bombers have been flying in the area as part of the country's campaign in Syria

                   

                                         Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber

The plane went down in area known by Turks as "Turkmen Mountain", it said.

Separate footage from Turkey's Anadolu Agency showed two pilots parachuting out of the jet before it crashed.

Turkey called this week for a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss attacks on Turkmens in neighbouring Syria, and last week Ankara summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the bombing of their villages.

Ankara has traditionally expressed solidarity with Syrian Turkmens, who are Syrians of Turkish descent.

About 1,700 people have fled the mountainous Syrian area to the Turkish border as a result of fighting in the last three days, a Turkish official said on Monday.

Russian jets have bombed the area in support of ground operations by Syrian government forces.