RUSSIA vowed yesterday to counter Turkish attacks on its forces in Syria, calling Tuesday’s downing of an Su-24 jet a “pre-planned provocation.”

Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov said: “We have serious doubts that this act was unintentional.”

Earlier, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called Nato-member Turkey’s actions a “de facto protection of Islamic State” and a “dangerous escalation of [tensions] between Russia and Nato.”