The crew of the plane ejected and one pilot was killed by fire from the ground, according to the Russian General Staff. The co-pilot survived.
Su-24 pilot Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov killed by fire from the ground after ejecting from a Russian Su-24 jet downed by Turkey over Syria was posthumously awarded with a Gold Star medal, Russia’s highest honorary title.
“Some of our boys involved in fighting in the north of Latakia wore T-shirts with a portrait of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov. In memory of the heroic commander who died right here (to the north of Latakia) when Su-24 was shot down,” the commander of the militia said.
As the Syrian army backed by popular defense groups continuous its fight against terrorists, it was reported that the army recently managed to gain control over the strategically important town of al-Rabea’a and the village of al-Rawda in the Latakia province near the border with Turkey.
Similarly, last week it became known that, with the support of the Russian air force, the Syrian army was able to establish control over the city of Salma, after it had been in the hands of terrorists for the past four years.
