24 November 2015 front-line bomber VKS RF Su-24M, worked out targets in Syria, was shot down in a missile strike, inflicted by the Turkish Air Force F-16C fighter. The crew of the damaged aircraft managed to eject. However, in the course of small arms fire, which was conducted by pro-Turkish militants, bomber commander Oleg Peshkov died. Navigator Konstantin Murakhtin managed to survive and continue his service.
After this incident, various versions of the rescue operation were discussed in the media.. Rumors fueled “oppositional” Damascus resources, who claimed, that the alleged Russian navigator was captured and was released thanks to the almost indirect intervention of Ankara.
However, one of these days, six years after the Turkish provocation, a video was published on the YouTube channel "Alexander Rogatkin's Studio", disproving insinuations.
According to the video, Russian UAV, inspecting the drop zone of the Su-24M, discovered the navigator's parachute, and in the infrared range - the thermal signature of the pilot. Murakhtin, trying not to give out your location to the militants, sat in a shelter without moving. Especially, mobile ZU-23-2 terrorists found a parachute and fired on this sector. To make sure, it intact, a call was made to the navigator's mobile phone, confirmed the safety of his life.
After that, the active phase of the rescue operation was launched with the participation of special forces groups of the Russian Federation and Syria, during which the navigator was evacuated from the place of shelter and taken to the location of the Russian troops.
