28 November 2015

The downing of the Russian Sukhoi-24: what Russians say

Somebody at the Lenta.ru site decided to prepare a collection of all their articles related to the shootdown of the Russian plane. After browsing through the list of headlines, I have realized that they tell a story by themselves, without clicking through to the articles.

I have selected a few of the headlines, sorted by publication date and time, in hope that the reader will be able to complete the gaps and to see the picture, while keeping in mind that:

  • The headlines reflect what the Russians say and not necessarily what they think.
  • The times on the articles are these of publication and not always reflect the real time of an event or response.
  • Remarks added only where it's necessary (in my opinion)
November 24, 2015

11:49 [Russian]MoD announced the crash of a Russian jet in Syria.
         (The first "official" version - downed by ground fire of unexplained origins)
14:46 Nato calls for an urgent meeting in relation to the downing of the plane
15:22 Media reports that the head of Russian diplomatic mission is summoned to the Turkish FM
15:53 Putin calls the shootdown "a stab in the back"
15:57 Putin promises serious consequences for Russian-Turkish relationships
16:29 Turkish military attache summoned to Russian MoD
16:49 Putin says that the SU-24 was targeting militants of Russian extraction
17:18 Russian MoD tells about the circumstances of the shootdown
         (The Turkey's role in the downing of the jet surfaces after Putin's remarks)
17:25 Erdogan calls an urgent meeting of Turkish security council 
17:27: Davutoglu states the Turkish rights when is borders are crossed
17:57 Lavrov [Russian FM] cancels his visit to Istanbul after the incident
19:36 Turkish authorities report on their work aimed to free the captured pilots
19:58 Ankara will try to minimize the damage to its relationships with Moscow after the demise of SU-24
20:03 Syrian militants declare that they destroyed a Russian helicopter
20:55 Obama pointed out to Moscow the problems related to military actions near Turkish borders
21:08 Russian MoD promised protection to their bombers in Syria by fighter jets
21:09 General Staff announced the deaths of a pilot and a Marine
21:41 Russia will stop its military cooperation with Turkey
22:05 Ankara says it didn't have information of the Sukhoi belonging to Russia
22:20 Russian tourism authority forbids marketing of Turkish tourist packages

November 25, 2015

00:01 Media learns that Turkey doesn't have proof that Russian planes violated its airspace
04:46 Media learns that one of the pilots was rescued
09:55 Medvedev accuses Turkey of helping Daesh
10:07 Russian food authority forbids import of Turkish poultry
11:43 Anti-aircraft system S-400 will be deployed at Khmeimim airbase
12:02 Russian helicopter was destroyed by American missile that came from Turkey
13:43 Kremlin doubts the possibility of fighting terrorism with Turkey
14:22 Turkey expressed its condolences re downing of Sukhoi
15:02 Turkish embassy in Moscow attacked
15:55 Moscow says no intention to go to war with Turkey
21:05 German military says the Russian planes were attacked over Syrian territory
21:19 Washington calls Moscow to start a dialog with Ankara
23:00 Turkish General Staff publishes recording of calls to the Russian planes
23:15 Holland calls for help to prevent the damage to Russian-Turkish relationships

November 26, 2015

00:01 Turkish General Staff declares readiness to exchange information on the incident
03:38 Media learns of plans to increase the [Russian] air force group in Syria
05:37 NATO Secretary General calls for a review of safety rules in Europe
14:17 Media tells about deployment of S-400 system
(Notice the time between the decision and the start of deployment. Hmm...)
14:23 Putin regrets the lack of apology from Turkey
15:14 Medvedev describes the food embargo on Turkey
16:04 Erdogan promises to continue downing planes the will invade Turkish airspace in the future
16:24 Russian declare that the [gas pipeline] Turkish Stream project is being frozen
17:18 Erdogan announces he is not willing to apologize for the incident
19:22 The S-400 system [in Syria} is declared operational
(This is surely an all time record of Russian military efficiency)
20:09 Erdogan tells about his failure to talk to Putin about the downing of Sukhoi-24
21:07 Erdogan offers Putin a meeting

November 27, 2015

00:47 [Russian] Foreign Ministry denies that Erdogan tried to call Putin
02:44 Davutoglu states the Turkish intention to reduce the tension in their relationships with Russian
08:41 Erdogan stated the consequences of [possible] use of S-400 against Turkish planes
10:23 Turkish air force will avoid flying over Syrian territory
12:41 Kremlin tells about the failed attempts of Erdogan to call Putin
16:01 Kremlin explains the unwillingness of Putin to talk to Erdogan
17:00 Commander of [Russian] air force calls the attack on Sukhoi-24 and act prepared in advance
19:34 The commander of Russian Air and Space Force declared the location of Turkish F-16 at the time of the attack on Sukhoi-24

November 28, 2015

13:09 Iraqi politician tells about Daesh oil smuggling into Turkey
13:32 Turkish foreign ministry recommends that Turkish citizens avoid unnecessary travel to Russia
15:07 Kremlin calls a possibility of Bosphorus strait's closure "apocalyptic scenario"

And a stray (but still related) news item, purely for comic effect:

Participants of a demo in Athens burn Turkish and USA flags.

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