The data from the black box of the downed Russian Su-24 bomber will prove that the aircraft was in Syrian airspace when it was attacked by Turkish forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
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Shoigu said the territory where the jet crashed was “liberated” by Syrian special forces from rebel control recently, allowing them to recover the black box.
In a statement, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said it was the “first time” Kalibr cruise missiles were launched into Syria by the Rostov-on-Don submarine from an underwater position in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sergei Shoigu said the objectives ruined said the objectives destroyed in the most recent tide of Russian airstrikes contained a munitions storehouse, a factory production mortar rounds and petroleum facilities belonging to “terrorists”.
The Pentagon noted last month that Russian airstrikes had appeared more focused on Islamic State targets, after definitively linking the extremist group to the bombing of a Russian jetliner in late October.
Turkey denounced the incident as a provocation and summoned the Russian ambassador to protest.
A US defense official said the submarine was involved Tuesday in the latest wave of Russian attacks on targets in Syria.
An unnamed source told Interfax news agency earlier Tuesday that a Russian submarine was approaching Syria’s Mediterranean coast to launch cruise missiles toward to war-torn country. “In total we carried out 300 sorties and hit 600 various targets”, he said adding that all sorties were performed with the backing of Su-30 fighter jets.
Neither country has publicly commented on the issue.
The Russian military says its base in Syria is enough for its air campaign and it doesn’t need any extra ones. The Islamic State is a terrorist organization banned in Russian Federation.
“We’ve got the information to back that up”, McGurk said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during the International New York Times Energy for Tomorrow Conference on the sidelines of the COP21 United Nations conference on climate change in Paris, France December 9, 2015.
“We have urged political dialogue between the Iraqi government and that in Turkey”, Power said.
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The Rostov-on-Don (B-237) is a diesel-electric stealth sub, claimed to be one of the world’s quietest, the first example of the third generation submarines of the Varshavyanka class (Project 636) subs. “Russia is there for a long haul”.
