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Syria accidentally shot down a Russian military aircraft, on Monday killing all 15 crew members, when its air defences swung into action against an Israeli missile strike, Russian and Israeli forces said on Tuesday. The Russian Ilyushin dropped off the radar over the Mediterranean moments after Turkey and Russia announced a deal that offered millions of people reprieve from a threatened military assault in northern Syria. There was no immediate word from Damascus, but the deadly air war sequence started when Israeli missiles struck the coastal region of Latakia on Monday.
Israel expresses ‘sorrow’
Israel confirmed that it had targeted a Syrian military facility where weapons manufacturing systems were “about to be transferred on behalf of Iran” to Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah. It expressed “sorrow” for the Russian deaths, but insisted the Russian plane had been felled by “extensive and inaccurate Syrian anti-aircraft (surface-to-air missile) fire”. The plane downed by Syria’s Russian-made S-200 air defence had a crew of 15, who were all killed, Moscow said. The Russian military claimed that Israeli pilots had attacked Syrian targets by using “the Russian plane as a cover, exposing it to fire from Syrian air defences”. But Israel denied the accusations, saying that “when the Syrian Army launched the missiles that hit the Russian plane, (Israeli) jets were already within Israeli airspace.” The Russian government stressed that the incident would have no impact on the fledging Idlib deal, but warned Israel of reprisals and summoned its envoy in Moscow. The Syrian blunder came hot on the heels of a major deal announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan after talks in Sochi. They agreed to create a 15-20 km-wide demilitarised zone in Idlib, along the line of conduct between rebels and regime troops.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/russia-blames-israel-after-plane-shot-down-in-syria/article24981679.ece
