Russia will improve Syrian air defenses


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The Ilyushin II-20M 90924 reconnaissance aircraft takes off at Zhukovsky

Author's right of the image
Getty Images

Legend

The plane He-20 was returning to a Russian base on the northwestern coast of Syria (photo archive)

Russia will send new anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, a week after Syrian forces accidentally shot down a Russian plane during an Israeli air strike.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the S-300 air-to-air missile defense system would be delivered within two weeks.

Fifteen Russian soldiers were killed when the reconnaissance aircraft was shot down on 17 September.

Syria and Russia say Israel is to blame, but denies any responsibility.

In remarks quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax, Shoigu said the delivery of the system had been suspended in 2013 following a request from Israel, but added: "Now the situation has changed.

"In parts of the Mediterranean adjacent to Syria, there will be radio jamming of satellite navigation, radar on board and communications systems used by military planes attacking targets in Syrian territory," he said. declared.

What happened last week?

The incident occurred about 35 km from the Syrian coast, while the Ilyushin Il-20 aircraft was returning to the Russian air base Hmeimim, near the city of Latakia, in the north-west of the country.

The Russian news agency Tass said at the time that the plane "disappeared during an attack by four Israeli F-16 aircraft on Syrian installations in the province of Latakia".

Reports on Syrian media reported an attack in the area shortly before the plane's disappearance. According to the Sana news agency, the army said it intercepted "enemy missiles coming from the open sea to the city of Latakia".

Syrian television also reported explosions in the sky of Latakia, just before 22:00 local time. Thirty minutes later, Sana's Facebook page indicated that Syrian air defenses had reacted to enemy missiles.

What does Russia say?

On Sunday, Russia reiterated its position that Israeli fighter jets had used its reconnaissance aircraft as a cover during strikes in Syria.

The country's defense ministry said Israel had failed to give proper notice of the attack, putting Russian planes on the track of Syrian air defense systems.

"The actions of Israeli fighter pilots, which resulted in the deaths of 15 Russian servicemen, were either a lack of professionalism or an act of criminal negligence," said a spokesman for the ministry.

Israel maintains that indiscriminate fire from Syrian forces was behind the incident.

In a statement released Sunday night, the Israeli Defense Forces said that Russian military officials had made it clear that "the deconfliction mechanism is working and doing it in a timely manner".

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