Russian military plane downed by Syrian missile after attacking Israel's F-16s used it as cover - UPDATES

RT
Tue, 18 Sep 2018 08:34 UTC

© Baz Ratner / Reuters

An Israeli Air Force F-16 fighter jet.

The Russian military say the Israeli raid on Syria triggered a chain of events, which led to the shooting down of a Russian Il-20 plane by a Syrian S-200 surface-to-air missile. Moscow reserves the right to respond accordingly.

On Monday evening four Israeli F-16 fighter jets attacked targets in Syria's Latakia after approaching from the Mediterranean, a statement by the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday. The Israeli warplanes came at a low altitude and "created a dangerous situation for other aircraft and vessels in the region", it said.

The military said the French Navy's frigate "Auvergne" as well as a Russian Il-20 plane were in the area of the Israeli operation.

"The Israeli pilots used the Russian plane as cover and set it up to be targeted by the Syrian air defense forces. As a consequence, the Il-20, which has radar cross-section much larger than the F-16, was shot down by an S-200 system missile," the statement said.

Map of the incident on September 17 in Syria provided by the Russian defense ministry.

The Russian ministry stressed that the Israelis must have known that the Russian plane was present in the area, which didn't stop them from "the provocation". Israel also failed to warn Russia about the planned operation in advance. The warning came a minute before the attack started, which "did not leave time to move the Russian plane to a safe area," the statement said.

The latest statement gives a larger death toll than earlier reports by the Russian military, which said there were 14 crew members onboard the missing Il-20. It said a search and rescue operation for the shot-down plane continued.

Israel did not comment on the reports about the air raid in Syria which is consistent with its usual policy on such matters. Israeli officials earlier acknowledged hundreds of airstrikes conducted in Syria over the past years. Israel claims its interventions are necessary to fight Iranian presence in the neighboring country.

Comment: See also:

• Syria hit with massive sustained attack: Russian S-400 defenses possibly active In huge escalation
• As the West threatens to escalate war against Syria, Israel bombs target near Damascus

UPDATE: Russia has formally complained to Israel about the incident, laying the blame "squarely on the Israeli side":

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu spoke to his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman on the phone about the downing of the Russian Il-20 plane on Monday night. He relayed Moscow's position on the incident, which blames the Israeli military for setting up the Russian plane to be shot down by Syrian air defenses responding to an Israeli air raid, an official statement from the Russian military said.

Shoigu reiterated that Israel failed to notify Russia of the impending attack in a way that would give the Russian military to move the Il-20 out of harm's way. Instead the warning came one minute before the Israeli F-16 fighter jets launched their attack.

"The blame for the downing of the Russian plane and the deaths of its crew members lies squarely on the Israeli side," the Russian minister said. "The actions of the Israeli military were not in keeping with the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership, so we reserve the right to respond."

"The Israeli pilots used the Russian plane as cover and set it up to be targeted by the Syrian air defense forces"

This is indeed very typical of Israel, setting someone else up to take the hit for something Israel did.

We can also draw a parallel with IDF forces in Palestine using Palestinians as human shields. Here the people on the Russian plane were used as human shields.

This comes after a night of Israeli bombardment of targets in Syria including Latakia, Tartus, Homs and Hama - with rockets and explosions lighting up the sky especially over the coastal towns. According to the Middle East Institute's Charles Lister, "Reports suggest Russia air defenses in Hmeymim participated in attempting to repel tonight's strikes in Latakia." That would suggest the S-400s stationed there may have been involved.

This morning's shoot down of the Russian spy plane happened as it was, possibly, helping Syrian air defenses to target the missiles fired by the Israeli jets, and possibly the jets themselves (although the Russian Min of Def. says the plane was coming in to land). It's doubtful, however, that the Russians would provoke the Israelis by deliberately targeting their jets, although there is the possibility of plausible deniability that, if that were to happen, it was the Syrians simply defending themselves.

The "fog of war" they call it.

Whatever the case, the Russians will likely use this, not to 'lash out' at Israel but rather to put pressure on the Israelis to stop their attacks on Syria, which ultimately are in support of jihadi terrorists.

Israel, run by cowards and psychopaths, still has not even commented on the strike. That's the way they roll. Americans at least try to come up with excuses and rationalizations before they bomb foreign nations. Israel just bombs them, then refuses to comment. They are a lawless nation - arrogant, belligerent, and without conscience.

UPDATE: The Israelis have now commented, and unsurprisingly have blamed...someone else! Practically everyone else, it seems: Damascus, Iran, Hezbollah, heck they may as well have added Saddam Hussein, Col. Gadaffi and Adolf Hitler. "Look what you made us do!"

Yakov Kedmi, a former high-ranking Israeli intelligence official, told Sputnik that Israel may not have such free access to Syria's skies after this:

"There was an agreement between Israel and Russia that the actions of Israel in Syria's airspace would not endanger lives of Russian troops. Israel breached this commitment... What happens next will depend on the position of Israel. Most likely, Israel will no longer be able to enjoy the same freedom in the sky of Syria as it did before the incident," Kedmi said.

"Israel's attack in itself, regardless of the consequences, was an irresponsible step, because there is not a single facility on the territory of Syria that might have been used by Iran and whose destruction would have justified an attack on it, which could endanger the Russian troops," Kedmi said.

Putin has shared his initial thoughts:

"When people are dying - especially under such circumstances - it is always a tragedy," President Putin said during a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow on Tuesday.

Responding to a reporter's question as to whether the incident in Latakia could be compared to the downing of the Russian Su-24 by Turkey in 2015, Putin said the two situations were "different."

Ankara "deliberately downed" the Russian jet, he explained, while the Il-20 incident "looks like a chain of tragic circumstances, because the Israeli plane didn't shoot down our jet."...

Russia will investigate the incident, Putin said, adding that Moscow will boost security of Russian troops in Syria following the incident. He said that these will be "the steps that everyone will notice."

Update 22:30 CET

They're beginning to find bodies from the downed plane, as reported by TASS:

The Russian military has pinpointed the location where the Ilyushin-20 aircraft fell into the Mediterranean, the Russian Defense Ministry told the media on Tuesday.

"Taking part in the search for the crew of the Russian Ilyushin-20 plane, which crashed off Latakia, are eight ships and boats from Russia's Navy. By now, the aircraft's crash site in the Mediterranean has been identified. It's 27 kilometers west of Baniyas, in the Latakia province," the Defense Ministry said.

Russian ships have picked up body fragments, personal belongings and the plane's debris.

Also, Sputnik reports that Putin has softened the Russian govt's stance on culpability:

"Most certainly, we have to sort the case out most seriously. And our attitude to the tragedy is outlined in the Russian Defense Ministry's statement," he noted, adding he personally approved it.

Nobody gets to declare Israel a regime beyond the pale, not even Putin.

UPDATE: Netanyahu has publicly expressed condolences after speaking with Putin on the phone. That's a rather empty statement. We call that crocodile tears.

Russian news coverage of the Israeli provocation:

Witnesses described the Israeli (and presumably French) attack:

Local man Ammar Altounji said the incident unfolded when he was walking with his friends on Monday.

"Suddenly we heard a sound, but we didn't recognize what it was. Then we saw explosions...the explosions were very big. After that, we saw explosions in the middle of the sea...but we also didn't know what it was. [Then] we saw anti-aircraft guns firing, and we saw a missile launched to intercept the rockets that were falling."

He said that Israel has "targeted us more than once in the past few days" and urged the international community to "intervene to put an end to the Israeli incursions in Syrian airspace."

The Israeli raid injured 10 people, two of whom were taken to hospital, according to the state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV.

Resident Tarek Ahmed said he was spending time with his children when the incident occurred.

"We heard a very powerful explosion...we went to the balcony to see what was happening. Then the second explosion happened....then another explosion from the other side of the city...we saw a lot of rockets on the seaside and on the east side of the city."

Ahmed added that he hopes "Israeli aggression on Syria will end, and that we will live in peace."

Witness Alexander Erigen also expressed hope that attacks would soon come to an end, while thanking the Russian military for its work in "defending" Syria.

Russia has launched its investigation.

Here's the response so far in the Israeli media:

In an op-ed piece for The Jerusalem Post, Seth Frantzman blames the incident on the lack of communication between those involved in the Syrian conflict. However, he claimed there was a sense in the statement that Israel could have intentionally created a "complex stratagem" near Latakia to confuse the Syrian military. He cited Moscow's allegations that Israel had given Russian an advance warning just one minute before the attack, which didn't give the IL-20 time to descend and land at the Russian airbase.

He concluded that the Latakia incident had posed a risk to the "delicate balance" between Israel and Moscow in Syria. "The death of Russian servicemen cannot be ignored by Moscow and Russia shows that it doesn't want to accept that this was a terrible mistake, but rather sees the airstrikes as endangering Russian lives."

Israel Today argued that Russia's reaction to the downing of the plane shows that Russian President Putin "will not ignore the death of 15 of his servicemen."

Haaretz's Anshel Pfeffer, meanwhile, suggested that the crash was a "screw-up between the Russian and Syrian allies," but yielded that it could have been Israel's late notification that was partly to blame for it. He insisted that Israel was unlikely to seek to risk its de-confliction agreements with Russia in Syria. Anyway, he claimed, Israel would "have to take the rap in public" and to "limit itself" in the coming weeks and months.