Russia has formally complained to Israel about its air attacks on Syria, which led to the downing of a Russian Il-20 plane off the Syrian coast on Monday
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Moscow laid the blame for the crew’s deaths “squarely on the Israeli side” saying Israeli warplanes were responsible for “creating a dangerous situation” that led to the shooting down of the Russian military plane by Syrian air defense systems.
He added that “the actions of the Israeli military were not in keeping with the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership, so we reserve the right to respond.”
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In a shift of tone on Tuesday however, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the downing of its military aircraft “looks like a chain of tragic circumstances, because the Israeli plane didn’t shoot down our jet”.
President Putin attributes the downing of the plane to “tragic, accidental circumstances” and says the incident is different to the shooting down of a Russian bomber by Turkey in 2015 pic.twitter.com/VaViTfgU12
— BBC Monitoring (@BBCMonitoring) September 18, 2018
Press TV reports: The plane vanished from radar screens over Syria’s Latakia Province late Monday while Israeli and French forces were launching strikes against the Arab country.
Fifteen Russian military personnel were killed as the aircraft was coming to land at the Hmeymim air base in Latakia, which is run by Russian forces.
“The Israeli pilots used the Russian plane as cover and set it up to be targeted by the Syrian air defense forces,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
“As a consequence, the Il-20, which has radar cross-section much larger than the F-16, was shot down by an S-200 system missile,” it said, adding Israel had warned Russia of an impending airstrike on Latakia only one minute beforehand.
#Russia blames #Israel. #IDF used Russian plane at bait for #Syria air defense. Israel are trying extremely hard to start #WW3. They are a criminal enterprise propped up by USA… https://t.co/zYbu1JLOjI
— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) September 18, 2018
Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, “We reserve the right to take commensurate measures in response.”
Konashenkov described the Israeli military’s actions as “hostile” and “an act of provocation,” Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
Shedding further light on the incident, Syrian state media said that Latakia’s capital of the same name came under attack from “enemy missiles” at around the time when the plane disappeared, forcing Syrian air defenses to respond.
France has, meanwhile, denied any involvement in the incident.
‘The blame lies squarely on Israel’
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu spoke to Israeli minister for military affairs Avigdor Lieberman, on the phone about the incident.
“The blame for the downing of the Russian plane and the deaths of its crew members lies squarely on the Israeli side,” Shoigu said. “The actions of the Israeli military were not in keeping with the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership, so we reserve the right to respond.”
Israel’s Ambassador to Moscow has been summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the incident, the ministry’s spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, announced on social media.
The Kremlin also said it was studying the situation and would have more to say later.
Despite Russian warnings Israel has continued to illegally bomb #Syria with impunity.But the loss of a Russian plane with 14 on board during Israeli strikes is a very serious escalation. The Kremlin’s current relations with Tel Aviv are untenable. Israel is an enemy of Russia.
— Neil Clark (@NeilClark66) September 18, 2018
