Russia: Israeli strike on Syria threatened civilian flights

The Russian military on Wednesday criticized an alleged Israeli airstrike near the Syrian capital, saying it has endangered civilian flights.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said six Israeli F-16 jets launched the “provocative” raid at the moment when two civilian airliners were preparing to land in Damascus and Beirut, creating a “direct threat” to the aircraft. Konashenkov said the Syrian military didn’t fully engage its air defence assets to avoid accidentally hitting the passenger jets. He added that Syrian air traffic controllers redirected the Damascusbound plane to the Russian air base in Hemeimeem in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia. Konashenkov said the Syrian air defence forces shot down 14 of the 16 precision-guided bombs dropped by the Israeli jets, while the remaining two hit a Syrian military depot seven kilometres west of Damascus, injuring three Syrian soldiers.

It wasn’t clear if the Syrian military used any of the advanced S-300 air defence missile systems that Russia delivered in October to beef up its air defences. The move followed the Sept. 17 downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane by Syrian forces responding to an Israeli air raid, an incident that strained previously warm ties between Russia and Israel.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry in a statement Wednesday accused Israel of exacerbating the crisis in the country and standing in the way of the government’s war on terrorism.