Missing Russian jet pilot 'alive and well' in Syria

The pilot is "alive and well" at a Russian air base in Syria, it says.

His co-pilot and a marine involved in a failed rescue attempt were killed.

Turkey said the jet had strayed into its airspace but Russian President Vladimir Putin says the plane was flying over Syrian territory.

It is not clear what has happened to the body of the other pilot, who was killed by gunfire as he parachuted from his burning plane.

Tensions have escalated between Russia and Turkey over the incident, but the US, the EU and the UN have all appealed for calm.

President Putin has described the downing of the plane as a "stab in the back", and warned of serious consequences.

Turkey's President Recep Erdogan has defended the action, saying "everyone must respect the right of Turkey to protect its borders", but he stressed he did not want to escalate tensions further.

Turkey is a member of Nato. The alliance has backed Turkey's version of events, although it, too, is calling for "diplomacy and de-escalation" to resolve the situation.

After Turkey became the first Nato member to shoot down a Russian plane in over half a century, the question now is how will Moscow respond?

President Putin called Turkey an "accomplice of terrorists" and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cancelled a planned trip to the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday.

But the UN and Nato have urged both sides to de-escalate the crisis. According to Ankara, the Russian Su-24 was warned 10 times about entering Turkish airspace, though Moscow says there was no such communication.

But Turkey also said the violation lasted just 17 seconds. And given signs that a united front was beginning to form against Islamic State, there will be diplomatic pressure on both sides to focus instead on the common threat from the militants.

The tough talk from Ankara and Moscow will no doubt continue - but whether there will be serious retaliation is less clear.

The two pilots - Lt Col Oleg Peshkov and Capt Konstantin Murakhtin - came under ground fire after they parachuted from their burning plane, Russia said.

Lt Col Peshkov was killed, and there had been various reports about the fate of Capt Murakhtin.

He was rescued by Russian and Syrian special forces in a 12-hour operation and was brought to the Russian base in Syria "alive and well", Mr Shoygu was quoted by Ria Novosti state news agency as saying.

Soldier Aleksandr Pozynich was killed during the operation to rescue the pilots after his helicopter came under fire from rebels during "an emergency landing on neutral territory", Russian officials said.

President Putin said Lt Col Peshkov would posthumously be awarded Russia's highest award for valour, the Hero of Russia, and the other two men would be decorated with Orders of Courage (one of them posthumously).

(BBC)