MOSCOW

Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that its Russian SU-24 fighter jet has been shot down."

In a statement released on its official website Tuesday, the ministry said: "Today, an aircraft from the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic crashed on the territory of Syria supposedly shot down from the ground."

Although it said that preliminary reports suggested the pilots had ejected safely from the warplane, the exact status of the Russian pilots was "being defined".

"The circumstances of the crash are being defined," the statement said, claiming that during all the flight time, the Russian warplane was flying within the borders of the Syrian territory.

Earlier, Turkish presidential sources said that Turkish jets shot down a warplane believed to be a Russian type SU-24 after it violated Turkey's airspace near its border with Syria on Tuesday.

The warplane was shot down in Syria's northwestern Turkmen town of Bayirbucak near Turkey’s border within the framework of engagement rules, the Turkish military added.

The Turkish General Staff said the downed foreign jet was issued 10 warnings in five minutes and it was shot down by two F-16s.

According to a media outlet’s footage of the downed aircraft, the pilots could be seen ejecting safely before the aircraft hit the ground in a huge of plume of smoke.