Turks shoot down a Russia Su-24

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Olefin

And a base he could have kept access to without having to go to war, without having to piss the US and the Europeans off, and without any bloodshed.

This is not correct. The Ukrainian government had decided to cancel the long-term lease and tell the Russians to leave after a grace period of a few years. Those few years were deemed sufficient for the Russians to pack up and go home whereupon the base was most likely going to be taken over by the Ukrainian navy.