Assad blames Israel for downing of Russian plane
Syrian President writes Putin, says Russian plane was downed over Syria due to Israeli "arrogance".
Elad Benari,
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Wednesday sent a letter to his
Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in which he blamed Israel for the
downing of a Russian plane which was accidentally hit by Syrian
anti-aircraft fire during an Israeli missile strike.
"This unfortunate incident was the result of Israeli arrogance and
depravity," wrote Assad, offering his condolences for the death of 15
Russian crew members killed in the incident over Syria on Monday.
"We are determined that such tragic events will sway neither you nor us
from continuing the fight against terrorism," he continued in the letter
published by the official Sana agency and quoted by AFP.
The Russian plane was downed by Syria's Russian-made S-200 air defense system and all aboard were killed.
The Russian military has accused Israeli pilots of using the Russian
plane as a cover, "exposing it to fire from Syrian air defenses".
The Russian Defense Ministry initially blamed Israel for the downing of the plane.
The IDF denied the Russian claim, stating that Israeli aircraft had
already returned to Israel airspace when the Russian plane was shot
down.
Later, Putin said that he backed the Russian Defense Ministry statement
accusing Israel of downing the reconnaissance plane, but added that the
incident appeared to be an accident.
A delegation of senior Israeli security officials is scheduled to fly to
Russia early Thursday morning in an attempt to resolve an ongoing
dispute with the Kremlin regarding the downing of the plane.
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