A Russian IL-20 military aircraft was accidentally shot down by a Syrian anti-aircraft missile last night during a joint attack on Syrian military installations by Israel and France:
The mark of IL-20 went off the radars disappeared during the attack of four Israeli F-16 aircraft on Syrian targets in the province of Latakia.
At the same time, the Russian radars fixed missile launches from the French frigate Auvergne?? https://t.co/1JgkDWnMxs pic.twitter.com/RlVpswK86q
— Russia in USA ?? (@RusEmbUSA) September 18, 2018
Apparently the Syrians thought the Russian aircraft was Israeli:
The US military believes that Syrian anti-aircraft artillery accidentally shot down a Russian maritime patrol aircraft Monday while the Syrian regime was attempting to shoot down a barrage of Israeli missiles targeting locations in Latakia, a US official tells CNN
— Ryan Browne (@rabrowne75) September 17, 2018
And Russia is blaming Israel for the deaths of the 15 people on board:
Russian TV quoted a government statement as saying that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Israel is “fully to blame” for the deaths of the 15 people onboard. https://t.co/H7aNu7ujPf
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) September 18, 2018
The wreckage has been found:
Russia Def Min: "Jet has been found 27 km west of Latakia's Banyas- Russian vessels pull up bodies of Russian crew, personal belongings, aircraft debris"
— Stefanie Dekker (@StefanieDekker) September 18, 2018
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Russia says Israel used the Russian plane as “cover” or a “shield”:
Russia announced that is was Syrian air defense that shot it down because the IAF used their aircraft for cover.
— LTC (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) September 18, 2018
Russian Defence Ministry: Russian Ilyushin Il-20 plane was downed by Syrian Air Defence missile after Israeli F-16 pilots used it as cover thus setting it up to be targeted by AA defence. Such actions can only be classified as a deliberate provocation https://t.co/qBcqPz2en6 pic.twitter.com/21mTTNXmpd
— Russia in RSA ?? (@EmbassyofRussia) September 18, 2018
And Russia says it reserves the right to “respond adequately”:
Moscow says it reserves the right to ‘respond adequately’ to the loss of its military plane over Syria https://t.co/FMl6Gy9eV0
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 18, 2018
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