Russian military advisors were operating in area targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Syria

Russia Insider
Tue, 21 Mar 2017 00:00 UTC

What happens when an Israeli airstrike kills a Russian?

This would explain why Moscow summoned Israel's ambassador

An interesting scoop from Al Masdar News: Military sources say that Russian advisors embedded with the Syrian Army were operating "only a few kilometers" away from one of the Israeli airstrikes on Friday morning in western Palmyra.

According to the report, the Syrians also "informed" the Russians before launching several S-200 missiles at the Israeli fighter jets:

The Syrian Air Defense informed their Russian advisers regarding their intentions to retaliate against the Israeli warplanes that attacked their positions near Palmyra (Tadmur), a military source informed Al-Masdar on Monday.

Russian Marines advising the Syrian Arab Army in western Palmyra were only a few kilometers away from one of the sites the Israeli warplanes attacked on Friday morning.

Before Friday's strikes, it was widely assumed that Israel was coordinating (or communicating) with Russia in order to avoid any "incidents" in Syria.

It's possible that Israel's ambassador to Russia was summoned because the Israelis came dangerously close to killing Russian forces operating in Syria.

As we reported yesterday, Syria's U.N. envoy Bashar Jaafari says Syria's use of anti-aircraft missiles against Israeli fighter jets was a "message" from Putin:

Russia has sent a clear message to Israel that the rules of the game have changed in Syria and its freedom to act in Syrian skies is over, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations said on Sunday night.

"Putin sent a clear message," said Bashar Jaafari, speaking on Syrian television. "The fact is that the Israeli ambassador [to Russia] was summoned for a conversation only a day after he submitted his credentials [to the Russian Foreign Ministry last Thursday], and was told categorically that this game is over."

Syria's use of anti-aircraft fire against Israel last Thursday night has changed the rules of the game, too, Jaafari said, adding that Syria will not stand idly by in the face of an Israeli threat.

Although there are clear indicators that Russia is less than thrilled about these airstrikes, Damascus has been a bit "loose" with the facts. For starters, we've yet to see any real evidence that an Israeli fighter jet was shot down or even damaged.

But the fact that Moscow hasn't jumped into the diplomatic boxing ring to defend Israel is bad news enough for Netanyahu.

Comment: A little more on the meeting with Israel's Ambassador to Russia, from Radio Free Europe:

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on March 20 that it had summoned Israel's ambassador to express concern about air strikes that hit close to Russian forces last week around the Syrian city of Palmyra.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that Ambassador Gary Koren was summoned on March 17 and "asked about" the strikes. The ministry "expressed concern" about the action taking place near Russian military locations, he said.

Russia, which has been backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops with a bombing campaign in the country's six-year civil war, said earlier this month that more than 180 of its troops have started demining efforts around the ancient city of Palmyra's historic monuments.

Russia and Israel have set up a "hotline" aimed at avoiding air clashes over Syria. Bogdanov said Moscow "would like this channel to work more effectively" to ensure no "misunderstanding on who is doing what."

[...]

Russia has deployed its own high-tech missile defense systems to Syria to protect its forces there.

Russia's summons of the Israeli ambassador comes within days of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow where they said they discussed the Syrian conflict.

The slap at Israel prompted Assad to say on March 20 that his ally Russia will play an important role in preventing any further clashes between his forces and Israel.

"Russia can play a role so that Israel no longer attacks Syria," Assad told Russian journalists.

See also: An analysis of Israel's ill-judged raid on Syria