The navigator, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin, was rescued by special forces troops who followed his radio beacon and negotiated his release from the insurgents who were holding him.
"There were no warnings from either the radio channel or visually, there was no contact at all," he told Interfax news agency on Wednesday from the Russian air base outside Latakia, Syria. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov, was killed by ground fire from insurgents as his parachute descended.
Murakhtin's account directly contradicted that of Turkish officials, who said the pilots had been warned 10 times in five minutes not to transgress into Turkish airspace, even the sliver of territory that the plane crossed in 17 seconds. The Russians have been adamant that the warplane was shot down over Syria, not Turkey. It crashed about 4 kilometres from the border, Russia said, and the pilots parachuted into Syria.
Murakhtin said that he and Peshkov had stuck to their combat flight plan and were flying their bomber in "normal mode" when the attack occurred. Given the speed at which they were travelling, he said, the F-16 should have flown a parallel course as a standard visual warning.
"There was not even a threat of crossing into Turkey," Murakhtin said.
Murakhtin's account was sure to further inflame sentiment in Russia. Its defence minister announced Wednesday that it would deploy its most powerful air defence system in Syria. Protesters gathered outside the Turkish Embassy in Moscow, pelting it with eggs and rocks, shattering windows.
In Washington, a senior US military official who was briefed on the radar tracking of the Russian warplane said Wednesday that the data showed that the aircraft transited Turkish airspace, as Turkey has insisted.
"They crossed into Turkish airspace," the official said of the pilots, speaking on the condition of anonymity as the official was not authorised to discuss confidential military reports.
Such data was not likely to deflate the pronounced anger and outrage on the Russian side. The country's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said that Russia had "no intention" of going to war against Turkey but reinforced the criticism of Turkey as a haven for terrorists. Lavrov repeated that he thought the shooting down of the military jet was a premeditated strike.
"We have enough information to confirm that this was a preplanned act," Lavrov said at a news conference. Turkey was just looking for a "pretext" to shoot down the plane, he said.
Lavrov suggested that the United States might have had a role in the attack, wondering if Washington had signed off on Turkey's firing an American-made missile. In addition, the accord that the United States negotiated with Russia on preventing accidental air force clashes over Syria was meant to cover allies like Turkey, he said, and he accused Ankara of not activating emergency communications.
It was clear that NATO members were critical of Turkey behind closed doors, Lavrov said, yet there was no public remorse.
In Washington, the State Department said that Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken with Lavrov by telephone, urging calm and more dialogue between Russia and Turkey. The American advice appeared to have been ignored, as sources on the ground said Russian airplanes had attacked a border town that Turkey has suggested is the heart of a buffer zone.
Syrian opposition activists said that Russian planes had hit the town of Azaz, in what appeared to be a retaliatory strike, for the first time since the beginning of Russia's military intervention nearly two months ago.
Azaz, an important gateway to Turkey about three miles from the border, is in an area that the Turkish government envisions as a "safe zone" within Syria where refugees could eventually return. Beyond its location, it is not believed to have any militarily significant targets, and the Syrian government has not bombed it for months.
On Wednesday evening, several warplanes believed to be Russian bombed a gathering point for private commercial trucks in Azaz, killing at least three drivers and destroying four trucks, according to Abdulkader Abu Yusuf, a local activist who spoke by telephone.
Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the downing of the plane Tuesday would not deter Russia from its military objectives in Syria.
In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he wanted to avoid any escalation with Russia, but he stuck to his position that Turkey was defending its own security.
"We have no intention of escalating this incident," Erdogan said in Istanbul. "We are only defending our own security and the rights of our brothers."
The Turkish prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, maintained that the plane had been brought down because it had not responded to warnings, even if it flew over Turkey for 17 seconds, and that Turkey was not aware that it was a Russian warplane when its air force fired.
He called Russia an "important partner" but also called for an end to Russian attacks along the border in an area that is home to the Turkmen, an ethnic group close to the Turks.
by Neil Macfarquhar, The New York Times
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