MOSCOW. Oct 16 (Interfax-AVN) - All the planes of Russia's air force fighting the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist group in Syria have returned to their base after accomplishing their missions, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov has said.
"All the airplanes of the Russian aviation group in the Syrian Arab Republic have returned to the Hmeimim airbase after accomplishing their combat tasks," he told reporters on Friday.
"Russian unmanned aerial vehicles are monitoring the situation in the territory of Syria and are conducting aerial reconnaissance. They are functioning on a scheduled basis," he said.
Media reported earlier that on Friday Turkey's Air Force had shot down an unidentified airplane in the country's airspace near the border with Syria.
The Turkish Defense Ministry reported that the plane had been shot down after it had been given three warnings.
At the same time, the preliminary information provided by high-ranking Turkish representatives indicates that the downed aircraft was a drone.