I agree with your point, SkyHawk. Interesting to note that Russia has said it will not cut off gas supplies to Turkey over this. This leads me back to your earlier question, which got slightly lost in the morality of bombing thread drift. A Russian news presenter interviewed on BBC's Newsnight last night appeared to know that Russia now intends to add fighter escort to its aircraft in that area (although she mistakenly said bombers). I doubt it currently suits their agenda to escalate this too much.
Originally Posted by SkyHawk
A question I haven't seen asked yet. As the Russians were shot at by 'moderate forces', killing one of their pilots and a naval infantryman, and destroying a Mi-8 helicopter being used in the rescue, does that now make them a legitimate Russian target?
Now that is an interesting point. I'm sure they will argue that it does in that they pose a clear threat to their operational objectives. And, as you say, they have some legal right to be operating in Syria at the invitation of the national leadership - like it or not. So I would think that Turkey's little game play here may well have handed Russia the trump card they needed to fend off any international pressure to focus on ISIS instead of the rebels.