Russia says black box from jet Turkey shot down is damaged

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday publicly opened the black box of a warplane shot down by Turkey last month, a step it hopes will help confirm its assertions that the jet did not stray into Turkish airspace and was maliciously downed. Russian experts opened the plane’s orange flight recorder in Moscow in front of reporters and foreign diplomats. Officials said the device, located near the tail of the plane, had been damaged by the Turkish air-to-air missile as well as by its impact with the ground. Some of its memory chips were visibly broken in places.

We have sufficient evidence that proves that the Russian aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace.

Col. Sergei Dronov, deputy head commander of the Russian air force

Officials said experts would try to analyze the black box’s contents over the weekend with the aid of special equipment before presenting their findings on Monday. The incident, which occurred on Nov. 24, has prompted Moscow to impose retaliatory economic sanctions on Turkey and has triggered a furious response from President Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly accused Ankara of “stabbing Russia in the back.”

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