2nd Russian pilot rescued by Syrian Army

Arutz ^ | 11-25-2015 | Arutz

[tcrlaf]

A Lebanese news agency reports that the Russian pilot whose plane was downed on Tuesday by Turkey was rescued by Syrian commando forces.

[tcrlaf]

This has been "out there" for several hours, but this is the first English-Language article.

Bloomberg TV states the Russian Ambassador to France has confirmed it.

[tcrlaf]

RT
@RT_com
12 min.
BREAKING: One of 2 Russian pilots shot down by Turkey picked up by Syrian Army – Russian ambassador to France

RT
@RT_com
5 min.
MORE: One on board was wounded when parachuted down & killed in savage way on ground by jihadists-Russian ambassador

[tcrlaf]

TWITTER:

Daniel Nisman
@DannyNis
55 min.
#Russia conducting airstrikes now in the Turkmen mountains near the Turkish border, in the same area where pilots ejected yesterday.

[4rcane]

good to hear, what about the rescue helicopter? I heard it was shot down by American islamists allies

[beaversmom]

I’m glad they rescued one.

[easternsky]

Hope he has some info on the flight

[tcrlaf]

From what I’ve seen on Twitter, the Helo crew was recovered by a Spetz pilot Rescue Team.

1 Russian Marine killed.

[Eagles6]

There's a video on youtube supposedly of the event. Snackbarians take quite a bit of time to set up a US TOW antitank missile across a valley from a helicopter.

It is on the ground, not running and no one can be seen across the valley. No security.

Snackbarians set up in the wide open 1000+- from copter and it takes some time but you can tell they have been trained. They know what they're doing with the TOW.

One report said it was a Syrian copter and a Russian CPL was killed.

All very weird.

[Bobalu]

I’m glad one of them has been rescued :-)

Maybe his rescue will slightly defuse this dangerous situation.

Still, I can’t see Putin just letting this go.
Someone gonna pay a price...maybe many will pay a price.

I do expect Putin to declare Syria a no-fly zone for anyone other than Syrian, French and Russian flights... unless special authorization is given...this will mean -Turkey stay out altogether- and US must co-ordinate with Syrian/Russian command.

[spetznaz]

Russia will do nothing. They’re not strong enough.

[Sacajaweau]

NATO asked Turkey why they didn’t escort them out. Turkey is so full of cr**.

[ichabod1]

I know you’re called Spetznaz so presumably you know what you’re talking, but while Russia can’t probably manage a full out tilt with Turkey, I suspect they can and now WILL establish air supremacy over Syria. And looking for any Turkish violators they can find for karma. Remember all those people wondering why the Russians were moving the SA-300 batteries into Syria at the beginning...

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Now we wait for the Russian responce—it may take a few days but it will come. Turkomen Syrians at war with Assad may well feel the pinch. Russia may well have a wee bit of surprise set for Obama as well as Turkey. Thanksgiving and Black friday may well see some reaction. Russia has a long reach and friends in many places—like China, Cuba, etc...

[spetznaz]

I am just someone trying to think about the situation in a logical manner, and thus I can very easily be wrong. I just doubt it, although an important caveat is that analyzing something using logic does not necessarily work when the actors at play are not rational. That is an important caveat.

However, as I had posted yesterday (and pasted below), Russia will probably not do anything. At most what it would do is maybe some posturing (and maybe what some other poster on this thread stated - bombing the Turkmen held areas), but there will be no hit against Turkey. NATO may be comprised of many countries that are not necessarily strong, but (a) as an entity it is significantly more powerful than Russia, (b) Turkey is one of the more powerful NATO countries, and (c) a certain superpower called the United States of America that can absolutely mangle Russia in a conventional war. Yes, Russia does have the option of nuclear war, but that would be opening a whole different kettle of fish, and while many people think that there can be 'winners and losers' in a nuclear conflagration, the truth is that there would only be 'major losers' and 'even more major losers.' Thus nuclear war is not happening.

Russia will not want to engage NATO, and NATO will not want to engage Russia. The issue is that Putin is probably under pressure to DO SOMETHING, especially since doing nothing means that it is okay to shoot down Russian pilots. At the same time, Turkey is under quite some scrutiny by NATO on why they did not just escort the planes out, which is generally what has happened for 5 decades, but it still is a full member of NATO and thus has the requisite protections. A good example would be if you had a teenage son who came and threw mud on my windscreen, and I get out of my car to come and give him a 'good lesson.' Chances are that even though you wouldn't be happy that he had thrown dirt at me, you wouldn't necessary just stand there and let me introduce him to the sole of my rather large shoe! Same thing here ...Turkey is fully protected by NATO, and that's that.

What I posted yesterday:

Russia will do nothing.

Why?

Well, it has three options. The first option is to do nothing, with the reason for this being that, while Russia is not weak, it is not as strong as it wants others to believe it is. Action would mean the inception of a convoluted decision tree of reactions and consequences, with some paths leading to WW3, others leading to a scruff-up with Turkey, and a few even leading to Turkey doing nothing. However, as Russia cannot influence that decision tree, it will do nothing as it is not as strong as would be necessary for it to do as it likes (unlike the US, which - leadership dependent obviously - can genuinely do as it wants/likes without fear of immediate consequences).

The second option Russia can do is what I call 'posturing.' By this, what it would do is to (a) escort every attack plane with a couple of air-to-air fighters (and this would mean Russia bringing several SU-27/30s into the region), or (b) moving up a couple of S-300 platforms nearer to the area so that their long range radars can light up Turkish fighters (and the S-300 can target the Turkish airforce while they are WITHIN Turkey), or (c) both. You'll see the Russians constantly lighting up Turkish fighters with radar, but no missiles fired.

The third option is for Putin to basically unleash ROEs and let Russian fighters/SAMs take out any Turkish fighter that comes close, damn the consequences.

I suspect it will be option 1.

[spetznaz]

See my post 14 on why I think any reaction will be cosmetic.

[tcrlaf]

Lifenews, via Twitter:

article (in Russian) about the surviving navigator’s experience — they found him using his uniform’s homing beacon —

The navigator of the Su-24 after landing day hiding in the woods Syria
. . . after landing, he hid until night in a thicket, having gone six kilometers inland, and discovery was possible thanks to the testimony of the beacon.
. . . His health condition does not cause medical concerns.
. . . Contacts with Turkey on military lines will be discontinued.

[eyedigress]

Good Grief.

I have pulled some from the desert. They are in no condition to do anything.

[VerySadAmerican]

I think our flights shouldn’t be involved in this to begin with. So, hopefully Obama will back down when Putin says only his, French and Syrian planes will be allowed to fly over Syria. And if one gets shot down he can always say it was Syria that did it. Or the French.

[VerySadAmerican]

If Syria tells Turkey they “do not have permission to fly in Syrian air space and Obama said ‘Turkey has a right to protect it’s borders’ so, we do, too.

We have authorized Russian planes to fly in Syrian air space and they will shoot down any unauthorized aircraft in Syrian air space.”

[elhombrelibre]

Russia only has the ability to establish air supremacy over Syria if the US allows it to do this.