Black box of downed Russian plane damaged, Moscow saysDecember 19, 2015 - 10:14 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia's Defense Ministry on Friday, December 18 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 air space and was maliciously downed, Reuters reports. The incident, which occurred on November 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". Turkey says the SU-24 fighter-bomber, part of Russia's Syria-based strike force, strayed into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings to leave. Russia says the plane did not leave Syria and posed no threat to Turkey. Russian experts opened the plane's orange flight recorder on Friday in Moscow in front of reporters and diplomats. Colonel Andrei Semonov 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. Officials said experts would try to analyze its contents over the weekend with the aid of special equipment before presenting their findings on Monday. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. Titus, Bilirakis lead legislation to sanction Azerbaijani war criminals Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) have introduced the bipartisan legislation. |