Russian pilot says no warnings from Turkey before jet downed

MOSCOW — One of the Russian pilots of a fighter jet shot down by Turkey on the Syrian border told state media on Wednesday that there was no prior warning from the Turks.

“There was no warning, not by radio exchange nor visually. There was no contact at all,” Konstantin Murakhtin told Russian journalists at Moscow’s base in Syria after being rescued by special forces.

Meanwhile, several hundred young activists hurled stones and eggs at Turkey’s embassy in the Russian capital and brandished anti-Turkish placards after Ankara downed a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.

The activists threw eggs, paint and paper planes at the diplomatic mission and broke several windows as Moscow police urged them to stop the protest but did not intervene, an AFP photographer reported from the scene.

Some chanted “We will not forget, we will not forgive” and also yelled slurs directed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Some of the activists’ placards read: “Turkey you will remain without gas” and “Shame to accomplices of terrorists,” a reference to a statement by President Vladimir Putin, who accused the Turkish government of backing the Islamic State group militarily and financially.

After the rowdy protest, demonstrators left behind heaps of rubbish and broken glass.

A Moscow police spokesman told AFP he was not aware of any incidents involving the Turkish diplomatic mission and the embassy was not immediately available for comment.

Ties between Moscow and Ankara unraveled after NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday, saying it had violated Turkish airspace.

Putin said the Russian warplane had not posed a threat to Turkey, warning that the incident would have “serious consequences” on the countries’ ties.