Syria gets Russia missile defence

Russia will transfer the modern S-300 air defence system to the Syrian armed forces within two weeks.

Sergei Shoigu, Russian Defence Minister

moscow — Moscow on Monday announced new security measures to protect its military in Syria, including supplying the Syrian army with a new S-300 air defence system and jamming radars of nearby warplanes following the downing of a Russian plane last week.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that President Vladimir Putin ordered additional security measures after a Syrian Soviet-era S-200 missile shot down the Russian military plane by mistake, killing 15, in an incident last Monday that Moscow blames on Israel.

“This has pushed us to adopt adequate response measures directed at boosting the security of Russian troops” in Syria, Shoigu said in a televised statement.

“(Russia will) transfer the modern S-300 air defence system to the Syrian armed forces within two weeks.”

Putin and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad discussed the additional measures and delivery of the S-300 system on the phone Monday, the Kremlin said.

The Syrian military has already been trained to use the system, which was set to be sent over in 2013, but was held up “at the request of Israel,” Shoigu said.

“In regions near Syria over the Mediterranean Sea, there will be radio-electronic suppression of satellite navigation, on-board radar systems and communication systems of military aviation attacking objects on Syrian territory,” he said.

Moscow says Israeli F-16 planes which struck Latakia in western Syria on September 17 later used the landing Russian Il-20 surveillance plane as “cover,” which resulted in the larger Il-20 being hit by a Syrian missile.

The Russian military has said that Israel’s airforce informed its command in Syria via the estab-

lished de-confliction hotline, but only one minute before the air strikes — and gave the wrong target location. Because of this, Moscow claims that the Russian airforce could not keep its plane safe.

Israel regularly carries out strikes in Syria against Assad’s government, its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and Iranian targets. An Israeli military delegation travelled to Moscow last week to share information

about the incident. An Israeli official said the information showed that the Russian plane was shot down because Syrian batteries had “fired recklessly, irresponsibly and unprofessionally, long after our planes were no longer there”.

Russia has apparently not found this convincing.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday said the incident was caused by “premeditated” actions by Israeli pilots. —