The Russian Sukhoi Su-24 warplane was shot down for allegedly violating Turkish airspace, angering Russia's President Vladimir Putin, who compared the incident to being "stabbed in the back".
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The plane crashed in Syrian territory in Latakia's Yamadi village.
One of the two Russian pilots who ejected from the jet was picked up by the Syrian army and is being taken to Russia's base there, Russia's ambassador to France said on Wednesday.
Alexandre Orlov told Europe 1 radio: "One on board was wounded when he parachuted down and killed in a savage way on the ground by the jihadists in the area.
"The other managed to escape and, according to the latest information, has been picked up by the Syrian army and should be going back to the Russian air force base."
A Russian helicopter was also shot at on Tuesday as it took part in the search for the two pilots near the Turkish-Syrian border, opposition groups in Syria said.
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Putin sharply criticised Turkey for establishing contact with NATO to discuss the incident, prior to contacting Russia.
"Today's loss is linked to a stab in the back delivered to us by accomplices of terrorists. I cannot qualify what happened today as anything else," Putin said in televised comments.
"Our plane was shot down over the territory of Syria by an air-to-air missile from a Turkish F-16 jet. It fell in Syrian territory four kilometres from the border with Turkey. Our pilots and our plane did not in any way threaten Turkey.
ANALYSIS: Downing of Russian jet hardly a surprise
"Instead of immediately establishing contacts with us, as far as we know Turkey turned to its NATO partners to discuss this incident - as if we had hit their plane and not the other way around," he said.
Russia has been carrying out air strikes in Syria since September, saying it is targeting ISIL and al-Nusra Front.
The Syrian opposition and Western powers, however, say the Russian strikes have mainly targeted rebel groups fighting the Syrian government - an ally of Russia.
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's prime minister, said Turkey had a duty to act against anyone violating its borders.
The Russian warplane was shot down by Turkish air-to-air missile near the Syria border on Tuesday [Reuters] |
"Turkey will not hesitate to take all steps to protect the country's security."
While NATO called for the two nations to show restraint, Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance secretary-general, said: "We stand in solidarity with Turkey and support the territorial integrity of our NATO ally."
The US also backed Turkey's right to defend its territory.
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"This points to an ongoing problem with the Russian operations in the sense that they are operating very close to a Turkish border and they are going after moderate opposition that are supported by not only Turkey but a wide range of countries," Obama said.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government backed its key ally Russia, with a
military official telling the state SANA news agency that by shooting
down the Russian plane, Turkey had committed "a gross violation of
Syrian sovereignty".
"The desperate acts of aggression will only increase our determination to continue the war against the terrorist organisations with the support and help of Syria's friends, mainly Russia," the official said.
A major point of contention is whether the Russian jet crossed into Turkish airspace, with the two nations releasing their own satellite images showing conflicting views of the jet's final flight path.
A US official told Al Jazeera that the penetration of Turkish
airspace by the Russian jet lasted "only a matter of seconds" as it
crossed a roughly 3km wide section of Turkey that took only 20 seconds
to traverse.
Russia, however, vehemently denied that its plane ever crossed into Turkish airspace.
"The desperate acts of aggression will only increase our determination to continue the war against the terrorist organisations with the support and help of Syria's friends, mainly Russia," the official said.
A major point of contention is whether the Russian jet crossed into Turkish airspace, with the two nations releasing their own satellite images showing conflicting views of the jet's final flight path.
A
Turkish military statement said the plane violated Turkish airspace in
Hatay province and was warned "10 times in five minutes" before being
shot down at 9:24am local time.
Russia, however, vehemently denied that its plane ever crossed into Turkish airspace.
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