Government Says It Was Defending Against Israeli Airstrikes

A Russian military aircraft with 15 people on board has apparently been accidentally shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire, according to media reports.

Reuters reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the incident was caused by a series of "tragic and chance circumstances."

The plane was an Ilyushin Il-20 maritime patrol aircraft. Contact was lost with the crew late Monday night local time, according to the Russian defense ministry. The ministry said that there were French and Israeli airstrikes against Syrian targets at the time of the incident, but did not directly accuse either nation of shooting down the plane.

According to Newsweek, the Kremlin-supported RIA news agency said that Syrian missiles shot down the plane. The defense ministry said that Israeli aircraft used the Russian patrol aircraft for cover during the strikes, putting it in harm's way. The ministry also accused Israel of notifying combatants of its sortie one minute before the plane was shot down, which did not give Russia enough time to warn its pilots. The ministry called the action a "deliberate provocation."

In a statement released by the Russian TASS news agency, the plane was about 20 miles from the Syrian coast when contact was lost. “The trace of the Il-20 on flight control radars disappeared during an attack by four Israeli F-16 jets on Syrian facilities in Latakia province,” the statement said.

“At the same time Russian air control radar systems detected rocket launches from the French frigate Auvergne, which was located in that region,” it added. Israeli officials have refused to comment on the reports while a French military spokesperson told Agence France Presse it denied “any involvement in this attack.”

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report, Source report