The military said that the French Navy’s frigate ‘Auvergne,’ as well as a Russian Il-20 plane were in the area during 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, adding that 15 Russian military service members have died as a result.
Rescuers found the wreckage about 17 miles off the Syrian coast and recovered the remains of the 15 Russian service members.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held a telephone call with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Israeli military’s aerial operations in the Syrian airspace are in flagrant violation of the incumbent Damascus government’s sovereignty as tensions are simmering between Moscow and Tel Aviv over the downing of the Russian Ilyushin Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft in the western Syrian province of Latakia.
“Putin pointed to the fact that the Israeli air force has been conducting operations in breach of Syria’s sovereignty. In this case, Russian-Israeli agreements on the prevention of dangerous incidents were not observed. As a result, a Russian airplane came under fire from Syria’s anti-aircraft systems.
The President of Russia called for the Israeli side to avoid such situations from now on,” the Kremlin press service quoted Putin as telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone on Tuesday.
Putin has warned Israel against conducting air raids on Syria like the one that led to the downing of a Russian warplane by Syrian air defense missile, killing all 15 aboard.
Israeli regime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Putin to express sorrow over the plane's loss, but insisted that Syria bears responsibility for the downing of the Il-20 electronic intelligence plane.
Netanyahu also offered to dispatch the Israeli air force chief to Moscow to share details and noted the importance of the continuation of security coordination between Israel and Russia.