Russia says Israel (indirectly) to blame for downed plane over Syria
Christian Lowe, Katya Golubkova
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday accused Israel of indirectly causing a Russian military plane to be shot down near Syria’s Mediterranean coast, and threatened to retaliate against Israel for what it described as a hostile act.
Russia’s defence ministry said the Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, with 15 Russian service personnel on board, was brought down by anti-aircraft batteries of Moscow’s ally, Syria, in a friendly fire incident.
But the ministry said it held Israel responsible because, at the time of the incident, Israeli fighter jets were mounting air attacks on Syria targets and had only given Moscow one minute’s warning, putting the Russian aircraft in danger of being caught in the cross-fire.
“We view the actions of the Israeli military as hostile,” Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian state television. “As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian service personnel perished.”
Israel’s military declined to comment, as did the prime minister’s office and the foreign ministry.
Moscow said its plane disappeared from radar screens as it came in to land at the Hmeymim air base in western Syria late on Monday, at the same time 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 ministry, the Israeli F-16 jets carrying out the air strikes used the Russian plane as a 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,” Konashenkov said.
He 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.
RETALIATION THREATENED
The spokesman said: “This absolutely does not correspond to the spirit of Russian-Israeli partnership.”
“We reserve the right to take commensurate measures in response,” Konashenkov said, without giving details of what those measures would be.
Several countries have military operations underway around Syria, with forces on the ground or launching strikes from the air or from ships in the Mediterranean. In some cases, those countries are backing opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.
Foreign powers involved in the conflict — including Israel and Russia — operate hotlines which they use to exchange operational details to avoid one side accidentally attacking the other’s forces.
However, diplomats and military experts have warned that the risk of inadvertent strikes was high.
Relations between Russia and Israel have been cordial over the past few years, with Moscow trying to act as a mediator between Israel and its biggest regional adversary, Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square in May this year.
Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth and Andrew Osborn in Moscow, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, John Irish and Sophie Louet in Paris, Phil Stewart in WASHINGTON and Nayera Abdallah in CAIRO; Sophie Louet in PARIS, Editing by William Maclean
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-m...owned-plane-over-syria-idUKKCN1LY05J?rpc=401&
Are you really gonna believe that Russian-made S300 and S400s can shoot down Russian-made aircraft? I don't think that this is Syria's doing. They will be blamed for it for sure. But it just can't be. These systems are too sophisticated to shoot down an entire plane instead of a small rocket that is coming towards the mainland. The plane has to be caught in the middle of the rocket barrage, which is highly unprobable and also sounds very stupid.
Israel warned the Russian right before the attack, so I don't think Russia used their S-400/300.
I'm no military guy, more into politics so this is up for you guys to discuss.... I have no idea which theories are most/least plausible .
France has denied any involvement, I woudn't make sense for the French to do so.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201809181068121621-france-russia-plane-syria/