Alwaght- Russia blamed Israel for causing a Russian military plane to be shot down near Syria’s Mediterranean coast, and threatened to retaliate against the regime for what its hostile act.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, with 15 Russian service personnel on board, was brought down by anti-aircraft batteries of Syrian army, in a friendly fire incident on Monday when Israeli fighter jets were mounting air attacks on Syria.
“We view the actions of the Israeli military as hostile,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian state television. “As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian service personnel perished.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu also said el Aviv did not notify Moscow of the attack in a way that would have given its military an opportunity to move the Il-20 out of harm’s way. Instead, the warning came just one minute before the Israeli F-16 fighter jets launched their attack.
“The blame for the downing of the Russian plane and the deaths of its crew members lies squarely on the Israeli side,” the Minister Shoigu said. “The actions of the Israeli military were not in keeping with the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership, so we reserve the right to respond.”
Moscow said its plane disappeared from radar screens as it was coming in to land at the Hmeymim air base in western Syria late on Monday, just as Israeli jets and French naval vessels were mounting air strikes on targets in the same area of Syria.
France denied launching any missile strikes.
According to the Russian ministry, the Israeli F-16 jets carrying out the air strikes used the Russian plane as cover to allow them to approach their targets on the ground without being hit by Syrian anti-aircraft fire.
“Hiding behind the Russian aircraft, the Israeli pilots put it in the line of fire of Syrian anti-aircraft systems. As a result, the Il-20 ... was shot down by the (Syrian) S-200 missile system,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Igor Konashenkov said the Israeli pilots “could not have failed to see the Russian aircraft, as it was coming in to land from a height of 5 km (three miles). Nevertheless, they deliberately carried out this provocation,” Konashenkov said.
“We reserve the right to take commensurate measures in response,” he said.
The Israeli regime has yet to publicly comment on the incident.
Despite the fact that Israeli regime rarely acknowledges striking specific targets inside Syria, earlier this month the Tel Aviv admitted to hitting over 200 targets in the country. Overall, Israeli regime has launched 792 bombs and missiles at Syria since 2017.
