Russia accuses Israel of blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty
Russia criticized Israel for violating Syria's sovereignty and threatening the safety of two civilian aircraft in an airstrike in Damascus on December 25.
Russia accused Israel of violating Syria's sovereignty and threatening two civilian aircraft after Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes in Damascus on December 25.
"We are very concerned about the attacks and the way they were carried out. This is a blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on December 26.
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| Russia said Syria's air defense system intercepted 14 of the 16 bombs dropped by Israeli warplanes in the December 25 airstrike.Photo: AP |
Syrian government media said the country's air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles near Damascus, while Israel insisted the move was in self-defense.
"The Israeli army's air defense system acted in response to anti-aircraft missiles deployed from Syria," the official account of the Israeli army on Twitter confirmed.
Moscow also said Israeli strikes endangered two passenger planes.
"The provocative actions of the Israeli Air Force directly threatened two aircraft," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
He also said the attack occurred as "two planes, not from Russia, were preparing to land at airports in Beirut and Damascus".
Igor Konashenkov also confirmed that restrictions would be placed on the use of Syrian government air defense systems to "prevent a tragedy." The Russian Defense Ministry said three Syrian soldiers were injured in the attack when Israeli warplanes dropped 16 bombs. However, Syrian defense systems destroyed 14 of the 16 bombs.
Russia is a key ally of Syria and supported the government of President Bashar al-Assad after the country intervened in the Syrian civil war in 2015.
In September 2018, Russia blamed Israel for the downing of a Russian Il-20 military plane by Syria, killing 15 servicemen. Accordingly, several Israeli F-16 fighter jets flew into Syrian airspace and dropped bombs on several military targets in the northwestern province of Latakia.
Russian officials said that when Syria's S-200 air defense system responded to the attack, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet hid behind a Russian plane and caused the Syrian missile to hit the wrong target.
Shortly afterward, Russia blamed Israel for the accident and announced its decision to transfer the advanced S-300 defense system to Syria.
Israel has conducted a series of airstrikes in Syria to destroy targets that the country believes are Iranian, mostly located south of Damascus./.
