Russia on Friday began examining the black box of its warplane that was shot down over Turkey's border with Syria, again contesting Ankara's claim it had violated Turkish airspace, AFP reports.
Moscow and Ankara are locked in a bitter spat over Turkey's shooting down of Russian Su-24 jet on November 24, killing two Russian officers and sparking a furious war of words as well as economic sanctions from the Kremlin.
"We have sufficient evidence that proves that the Russian aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace," said Sergei Dronov, the deputy head commander of the Russian air force, adding that the downed plane had been flying in Syrian airspace 5.5 kilometres (around three miles) from the border with Turkey.
State television broadcast the opening of the orange device on state television as military officials insisted it was intact as experts from China and Britain watched the procedure.
The findings will be revealed on December 21, the air force said.