Rutte: NATO Must Normalize Relations with Russia After War
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that relations with Russia should eventually be restored after the war in Ukraine comes to an end
The rescued pilot surviving pilot of the Russian warplane downed by Turkey has said that no warnings of airspace violation were issued by Turkish Air Force.
The surviving pilot of the Su-24 bomber has told Rossiya-1 TV channel that there was no possibility for his plane to enter the Turkish airspace as the weather was clear and the jet was flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters.
"All our mission flight was in my personal full control until the explosion of the missile," he said on Wednesday, according to TASS.
"In fact there were no warnings either via radio communication or optically. There were no contacts at all," pilot navigator Captain Konstantin Murakhtin said. “That's why we were keeping our combat course as usual”.
Turkey, however, has said that it has warned the Su-24 to change course.
The Russian warplane was shot down on Tuesday by a missile fired from a Turkish F-16 fighter jet close to the border with Syria and fell in flames on Syrian territory. The two pilots ejected the falling plane.
Flight commander, Lt. Col. Oleg Peshkov, was shot dead by militants from the ground while parachuting to safety, the Russian military said earlier.
Turkey has released audio of its communication with the Su-24, saying it was warned to change course 10 times in the space of five minutes as it neared the edge of Syrian airspace.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that relations with Russia should eventually be restored after the war in Ukraine comes to an end
Russia announced on Friday that its forces had successfully retaken the village of Goncharovka in the Kursk region, which had previously been under Ukrainian control
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized Ukraine’s previous ceasefire agreements, claiming that every time since 2014, the Ukrainian government has lied about honoring ceasefire commitments
On the night of March 14, Ukrainian drones reportedly struck the Tuapse oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, igniting a large fire at a gasoline storage tank
Russian presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev accused NATO of deliberately escalating tensions in the Baltic region, calling the alliance a threat to Russia’s security.
Russia has reiterated its opposition to a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine
Bulgaria's Perperikon: A European Counterpart to Peru's Machu Picchu
Bulgarians Among EU's Least Frequent Vacationers, Struggling with Affordability