A Russian fighter jet has been shot down while flying over the Syrian territory. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the plane did not violate Turkish airspace as the Ankara is accused of shooting the jet down.

The Russian Su-24 was flying at the altitude of 6 000 metres, the ministry said. While the status of the pilots are still being defined, preliminary reports suggest they had managed to get out of the warplane before it crashed.

UK-based monitoring group, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the jet crashed in a mountainous area in the Latakia province, the BBC reports. Other reports suggest it crashed in Latakia's Yamadi village. The village has been a key area of conflict between the Syrian army and the opposition.

Another report suggests the jet was shot down near the mountains of Antakya.

"What we know so far is that a plane was shot down on Syria's border with Turkey, near the mountains of Antakya, which is a scene of a lot of violence of late,” Al Jazeera reports. "Witnesses saw two pilots ejecting from the plane."

The ministry further clarified that the plane had been flying “only within the borders of the Syrian territory” as its said objective monitoring data would be able to confirm the claim.

While Turkey is accused of shooting down the plane even though it did not violate its airspace, Turkish military claimed the Russian jet breached its airspace.

The military also claimed the aircraft had been warned at least 10 times over a period of five minutes before two Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot it down, RT reported.

"Our two F-16 planes on air patrol duty intervened in the plane in question on November 24, 2015, 9:24am, according to the rules of engagement," the military statement said.

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