Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian Aerospace Forces Commander Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev met the plane returning the body of killed Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov at the Chkalovsky military airport (Moscow region).
According to the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry, the plane carrying the body was escorted by fighter jets during its flight.
“A military transport aircraft carrying the body of Col. Oleg Peshkov was greeted at the Chkalovsky airfield by Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces Colonel General Victor Bondarev,” the press service said.
#SYRIA #Bondarev: Treacherous shot in the back terminated the life of a good man and an excellent pilot
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) November 30, 2015
#SYRIA #Peshkov #Bondarev: Flight personnel have always been following his example. We will fulfill our military duty to the end
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) November 30, 2015
#SYRIA #Peshkov #Bondarev: Those who planned and executed this treacherous act will be punished
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) November 30, 2015
The pilot of the Su-24 bomber, Oleg Peshkov, was killed by ground fire while parachuting to safety after the warplane had been downed by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 jet over Syria on Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the incident as a "stab in the back, carried out against us by accomplices of terrorists."
The killed Su-24 pilot was awarded the Star of Hero of the Russian Federation posthumously.
