Turkey is preparing to send back to Moscow the body of the Russian pilot who was killed after his plane was shot down on the Syrian border, BBC News reports.

Lt Col Oleg Peshkov's body was received by Turkish authorities at the Syrian border earlier in the day.

Rebels from Syria's ethnic Turkmen community opened fire on Lt Col Peshkov and his co-pilot as they tried to parachute into government-held territory on Tuesday, November 24.

The rebels said he had died by the time he reached the ground.

His body was flown from the border to the Turkish capital Ankara on Saturday, Novemner 28 afternoon, from where it will be taken to Russia.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu added that Lt Col Peshkov's body had been treated in accordance with Orthodox Christian tradition.

Another pilot in the plane, Capt Konstantin Murakhtin, survived and was rescued from rebel-held territory in Syria in a special forces operation.

Capt Murakhtin said he wanted to go back to duty and stay in Syria, saying "someone has to pay" for his colleague's death.