“A Russian reconnaissance aircraft was shot down over the war-torn Syrian province of Idlib during a Turkish-supported operation against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Initial reports suggest that the plane cost £ 7 million was shot down by pro-Turkish jihadists. There are also reports that the revolutionary faction destroyed two Syrian government tanks during violent clashes Recent events put NATO member Turkey and Russian-backed Syria almost on the verge of the confrontation a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that a new military operation is inevitable,” the newspaper said.

So far, there has been no official comment from Russian authorities that any Russian plane over Syria has been shot down.

BulgarianMilitary.com uses several local sources and so far none of them has confirmed that any aircraft has been downed over Syria in the last 24 hours.

Some experts say this is deliberately spreading false data to boost morale among soldiers.

In Geneva, the United Nations refugee chief called for a halt to the fighting to allow hundreds of thousands of trapped civilians to move to places of safety.

Russia and Turkey back opposing sides in the nine-year-old conflict. The Kremlin, which has supported Mr al-Assad’s push with air strikes against the rebel militia, said a clash between Turkish and Syrian forces would be a “worst-case scenario” and Russia would work to prevent the situation from worsening.

Syrian troops supported by Russian warplanes and special forces have been battling since December to eradicate the last rebel bastions in Idlib and Aleppo provinces in what could be one of the final chapters of the bloody civil war.

But has Turkish troops took up strategic positions across Idlib, Mr Erdogan said he would not leave the region “to the devices of the Assad regime”.

The Turkish leader told MPs: “Turkey has completed preparations for the implementation of its plan on Idlib, just like we did with previous operations. Frankly speaking, an operation in Idlib is only a matter of time. Turkey won’t leave Idlib to the devices of the Assad regime.”

Tensions in Idlib have escalated further since Turkey and Russia failed to reach an agreement after two rounds of talks in the last two weeks.