Moscow: Israel indirectly to blame for downed Russian jet
19 September, 2018
Russia on Tuesday accused Israel of indirectly causing a Russian military plane to be shot down near Syria’s Mediterranean coast, and threatened to retaliate against Israel for what it described as a hostile act.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, with 15 Russian service personnel on board, was brought down by anti-aircraft batteries of Moscow’s ally, Syria, in a friendly fire incident.
But the ministry said it held Israel responsible because, at the time of the incident, Israeli fighter jets were mounting air attacks on Syria targets and had only given Moscow one minute’s warning, putting the Russian aircraft in danger of being caught in the cross-fire.
“We view the actions of the Israeli military as hostile,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian state television. “As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian service personnel perished.”
Israel’s military declined to comment, as did the prime minister’s office and the foreign ministry.
Moscow said its plane disappeared from radar screens as it came in to land at the Hmeymim air base in western Syria late on Monday, at the same time as Israeli jets and French naval vessels were mounting airstrikes on targets in the same area of Syria.
France denied launching any missile strikes.
According to the ministry, the Israeli F-16 jets carrying out the airstrikes used the Russian plane as a cover to allow them to approach their targets on the ground without being hit by Syrian anti-aircraft fire.
“Hiding behind the Russian aircraft, the Israeli pilots put it in the line of fire of Syrian anti-aircraft systems. As a result the Il-20 ... was shot down by the [Syrian] S-200 missile system,” Konashenkov said.
He said the Israeli pilots “could not have failed to see the Russian aircraft, as it was coming in to land from a height of 5 kilometers. Nevertheless, they deliberately carried out this provocation,” Konashenkov said.
The spokesman said: “This absolutely does not correspond to the spirit of Russian-Israeli partnership.”
“We reserve the right to take commensurate measures in response,” Konashenkov said, without giving details of what those measures would be.
Several countries have military operations underway around Syria, with forces on the ground or launching strikes from the air or from ships in the Mediterranean. In some cases, those countries are backing opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.
Foreign powers involved in the conflict — including Israel and Russia — operate hotlines which they use to exchange operational details to avoid one side accidentally attacking the other’s forces.
However, diplomats and military experts have warned that the risk of inadvertent strikes was high.
Relations between Russia and Israel have been cordial over the past few years, with Moscow trying to act as a mediator between Israel and its biggest regional adversary, Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square in May this year.