Analysis
Putin Absolves Israel Over Syria Strike, but Crisis With Moscow Reaches All the Way to Tehran
Monday’s incident near Latakia, in which 15 Russian soldiers were killed in a downed plane, might see Russia toughen its stance toward Israel and curtail the air force’s freedom of action in Syria
“You always have to remember the first lesson in military history: Don’t mess with the Russians,” a senior officer in the
Israel Defense Forces said on Monday – without realizing how prophetic his words were.
The
incident in the Syrian skies on Monday night has now put Israel in an extremely difficult position with the Russians, and is liable to negatively influence the strategic freedom of action its air force had enjoyed on the northern front until now.
This is true even as Russian President Vladimir Putin
absolved Israel of downing the aircraft, saying the incident was a result of a "tragic chain of circumstances."
Israeli fighter jets attacked Iranian-related targets in Syria. Syrian aerial defenses tried to thwart the Israeli attack and accidently hit a Russian Air Force plane with a Russian-made missile.
It sounds like the start of a bad joke, but the potential consequences are widespread – as evidenced by the harsh condemnation issued by Moscow,
which places responsibility for the incident upon Israel.
The downing of the Russian intelligence plane with 15 crew members on board first and foremost embarrassed the Kremlin. In the hours following the incident, the Russians actually blamed a French carrier for shooting down the plane. Only on Tuesday did the Russian Ministry of Defense admit that a Syrian anti-aircraft missile had been the reason. However, Moscow blamed Israel.
The Russians are very uncomfortable admitting the weapons their provided their allies with led to the death of Russian soldiers. Moscow’s announcement, which included very exceptional wording, stated that the Israeli attack was an irresponsible and “deliberate provocation” that created a dangerous situation. Russia reserves the right to respond to the downing of the plane and the death of its crew, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu told his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman.
On Tuesday afternoon the IDF Spokesperson Unit released a first official statement regarding the incident. In the statement, Israel admitted that the incident began with its strike, expressed condolences for the death of Russian soldier – but laid full responsibility on Syria, Iran and Hezbollah.
According to the statement, the strike was aimed at thwarting a smuggling operation to Lebanon – part of Hezbollah's "precision project" to mount precise navigation technology to be mounted on the organization's rocket arsenal. Israel notified the Russian forces in Syria shortly before the strike began.
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https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east...cow-could-reach-all-the-way-to-iran-1.6490155
Was Russian RECON plane patrolling alone? Aren't they supposed to be patrolling with fighter aircrafts?
There is an air base near in Latakia and it was close, I don't think you need to be patrolling with fighter jets unless there is some serious threat. Russia and Israel are friends, and Russia is not against Israel targeting Hezbollah/Iranian assets in Syria. They just want the government to be safe from that.