Turkey's military on Tuesday shot down a Russian warplane, causing it to crash in Syria near the Turkey border. Media reports claim the jet was shot down by two Turkish F16 jets. A Turkish military official told Reuters that the Russian plane had strayed into Turkish airspace, and was only shot down after being warned.

Haberturk TV, a private news channel, broadcast footage of a warplane going down in fumes in a woody area, with a trail of smoke behind it. Photos by other news organisations showed two pilots parachuting out of the plane before the crash.

The area where the plane crashed is primarily inhabited by Syrian Turkmen, whom Ankara traditionally supports. Russia, which recently began an airstrike campaign over Syria in earnest in what Moscow claims is an attempt to attack the Islamic State, has frequently been accused of attacking Turkmen villages. Just last week Ankara summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the bombing of these villages.

Moscow has now confirmed that the warplane was indeed Russian, although it insists that it did not stray into Turkish airspace and remained over Syria. The pilots have both reportedly survived the ejection from the plane, and are currently being held on the Syrian side of the border.