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MOSCOW (AP) – The Russian Defense Ministry has again accused Israel of having shot down a Russian plane by Syrian forces and said that Israel seemed "thankless" for Moscow's efforts to contain the fighters supported by Iran in Syria.
Syrian government forces took the Il-20 Russian reconnaissance aircraft for an Israeli plane and shot it on Monday, killing the 15 people on board. While the Russian army initially blamed Israel for the loss of the plane, President Vladimir Putin then attributed it to "a string of tragic and fatal circumstances."
The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday presented its latest conclusions on the fall of I-20, accusing Israel of saying everything.
"We believe that the Israeli Air Force and those who made decisions about these actions are fully responsible for the tragedy that occurred in the Russian aircraft Il-20," said General Igor Konashenkov in a statement.
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For several years, Israel and Russia have maintained a special telephone line to prevent their air forces from confronting Syria. Russia has provided critical air support to President Bashar Assad's forces since 2015, while Israel has carried out dozens of strikes against forces linked to Iran. Israeli military officials have already praised the effectiveness of the hotline.
But Konashenkov accused Sunday Israel of using this phone line to deceive Russia on his plans. He added that the Russians were not able to take the I-20 to a safe place because an Israeli duty officer had misled them into explaining an Israeli operation in northern Syria.
Konashenkov said that an Israeli fighter plane flying over the Mediterranean coast of Syria shortly before the landing had deliberately used the Russian plane as a shield, reflecting "either a lack of professionalism or a criminal negligence".
He also complained that the Israelis, over the years, waited until the last minute to inform Russia of their operations, endangering Russian planes. He described Israel's actions as "a very thankless response to all that Russia has done recently for the State of Israel."
He referred to Russia's efforts to contain Iran-backed forces in Syria, including an agreement reached in July to keep these fighters within 85 kilometers (53 miles) of Israel's occupied Golan Heights.
