Russia to provide Syria with new S-300 air defense missiles
MOSCOW — Russia announced Monday it will supply Syria’s government with sophisticated S-300 air defense systems after last week’s downing of a Russian plane by Syria forces responding to an Israeli air strike, a friendly fire incident that stoked regional tensions.
The Russian Il-20 military reconnaissance aircraft was downed by Syrian air defenses that mistook it for an Israeli aircraft, killing all 15 people on board.
Russia laid the blame on Israel, saying Israeli fighter jets were hiding behind the Russian plane, an account denied by the Israeli military.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the S-300 missile defense systems will be delivered to Damascus within two weeks. Earlier in the war, Russia suspended a supply of S-300s, which Israel feared Syria could use against it.
Shoigu went on television to say that Russia is now going to go ahead with the shipment because “the situation has changed, and it’s not our fault.”
Shortly after his statement, Putin got a call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told him that the Russian move was “aimed primarily at fending off any potential threat to the lives of Russian servicemen,” according to the Kremlin.”
Netanyahu’s o ce said in its readout of the call that the Israeli prime minister “stressed once again that the responsibility for the unfortunate incident lay on the Syrian army that shot it down and on Iran, whose aggression is destabilizing the region.”
In an apparent reference to the S-300, the statement said “transferring advanced weapons to irresponsible hands will increase the dangers in the region,” adding that Israel will “continue to defend its security and interests.”
Shoigu announced that Russia would also equip Syrian air defenses with a new automated control system to enhance its e ciency and help identify Russian aircraft. On top of that, the Russian military will start using electronic countermeasures to jam any aircraft that would try to launch attacks o Syria’s coast.
“We are convinced that these measures will calm down some hotheads and keep them from careless actions which pose a threat to our troops,” Shoigu said.
The Israeli military has denied responsibility for the downing of the Russian jet, insisting Sunday that Israeli jets did not hide behind other aircraft and that they were in Israeli airspace when the Russian plane was downed.
The Russian military angrily rejected those claims. On Monday, Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov produced data collected by Russian air defense systems in Syria purportedly indicating that one of Israeli F-16 fighter jets was flying close to the much larger Russian plane, resulting in the Syrian missile homing in on the bigger target.
Konashenkov also said that data showed that the Israeli jets remained over the Mediterranean Sea o Syria’s coast after the Russian plane was downed.
U.S. national security adviser John Bolton meanwhile said Monday that delivery of the Russian S-300 would be a “significant escalation” in already high tensions in the region, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he would raise the matter this week with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the U.N. General Assembly.