Syria accidentally shot down a Russian military plane

CNN reports that Syria antiaircraft fire downed a Russian military plane after an Israeli attack on Syrian positions, killing 15 people on board. Russian state media said Syrian missiles shot the maritime patrol aircraft down amid an attack by Israeli jets in the Latakia region of northwest Syria.

In the beginning, Moscow blamed Israel for putting its aircraft in the line of fire. "Israel holds the Assad regime, whose military shot down the Russian plane, fully responsible for this incident," the IDF said in a statement, adding that Iran and Hezbollah were also accountable.

According to Haaretz.com already on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, that Israel was not responsible for the downing of a Russian military aircraft during a strike on Syria Monday night. "It looks like a chain of tragic circumstances, because the Israeli plane didn't shoot down our jet," he said.

As Haaretz reports, in the call with Putin, Netanyahu stressed the importance of continuing the security coordination with Russia, which he said has saved many lives on both sides over the past three years. He offered to send Russia all necessary details in order to investigate the incident, including dispatching the Israel Air Force chief to Moscow.

As Reuters informs, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed sorrow for the deaths of Russian aircrew members. Pompeo said that the incident “reminds us of the need to find permanent, peaceful and political resolutions to the many overlapping conflicts in the region.” He also added that the incident brings to light “the danger of tragic miscalculations in Syria’s crowded theater of operations” and it also “underlines the urgent need to resolve the Syrian conflict and to end Iran’s provocative transit of dangerous weapon systems through Syria, which are a threat to the region.”

Prepared by Marina Muradyan