Syria accidentally shot down a Russian military plane - CNNPolitics
Moscow (CNN) — Syria inadvertently shot down a Russian military plane after an Israeli attack on Syrian positions, killing 15 people on board, Moscow said.
Russian state media said Syrian anti-aircraft missiles shot the maritime patrol aircraft down amid an attack by Israeli jets in the Latakia region of north-west Syria.
Moscow blamed Israel for putting its aircraft in the line of fire and said it only had a minute's notice of the strike.
"As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian servicemen were killed, which is absolutely not in keeping with the spirit of Russian-Israeli partnership," said Russian Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Russian military, according to RIA-Novosti.
In a rare acknowledgment of its military activity in the region, Israel expressed "sorrow" for the loss of Russian life, but blamed the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. The IDF said it had followed well-established protocols in communicating with Moscow, which are intended to prevent such incidents.
"Israel holds the Assad regime, whose military shot down the Russian plane, fully responsible for this incident," the IDF said in a statement, adding that Iran and Hezbollah were also accountable.
According to the statement, Syrian anti-aircraft batteries "fired indiscriminately and from what we understand did not bother to ensure no Russian planes were in the air."
The incident presents Moscow with a diplomatic conundrum, as the country has a strong relationship with both Israel and the Syrian regime.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday Moscow was "extremely concerned" about the downing of the aircraft, an IL-20. He declined to comment on further steps the Russian government might take in response, or on any potential impact on relations between Russia and Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman talked by phone with his Russian counterpart, Army General Sergei Shoigu, both sides said. According to a readout of the call from the Russian Ministry of Defense, Shoigu described the actions of the Israeli air force as irresponsible and told Liberman that fault "rests entirely with the Israeli side."
"We reserve the right for further reciprocal steps," Shoigu said, according to the readout.
Anti-aircraft system 'sold to Syria by Russians'
Israel said that its fighter jets had targeted a Syrian Armed Forces facility "from which systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon."
"These weapons were meant to attack Israel, and posed an intolerable threat against it," the IDF said.
The IDF alleges that by the time Syrian anti-aircraft missiles had been launched, Israeli warplanes responsible for the overnight operation were already back within Israeli airspace.
The IDF also says that the Russian plane was not "within the area of operation" while the Israeli strike on Latakia was underway. Russia bases much of its Syrian military presence in Latakia.
A photo taken on July 23, 2006 shows a Russian IL-20M plane landing at an unknown location. Russia has blamed Israel for the loss of a military IL-20M jet Monday.
The Russian military said Israel notified the Russian side about the planned operation only a minute in advance, and that Israeli controllers would have seen the Russian plane, which was coming in to land, RIA reported.
Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Yevgenyevich Konashenkov claimed the Israelis used the plane as cover, effectively putting it in the cross hairs of the Syrian air defenses, according to RIA.
The Russian aircraft was shot down by an anti-aircraft system sold by Moscow to the Syrians several years ago, a US official with knowledge of the incident told CNN Monday. The Syrian air defense network in western Syria is very densely populated with anti-aircraft missile and radar systems.
In February, the two-man crew of an Israeli F-16 ejected from their aircraft when a missile exploded near them, damaging their aircraft as they finished conducting a mission against Syrian forces.
An Israeli defense official told CNN earlier this month that Israel has struck Syria 200 times in the past 18 months to prevent the deployment of Iranian weapons in the region.
https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/09/17/politics/syrian-regime-shoots-down-russian-plane/index.html?r=https://www.cnn.com/
