Russian plane downed in Syria, Moscow blames Israel

Moscow   :  A Russian military aircraft with 15 personnel on board was mistakenly downed by a Syrian missile, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, while blaming a simultaneous Israeli strike as the cause of the mistake.

The Ministry said a missile from Syria's S-200 air defence system shot down the Il-20 surveillance plane with Russian servicemen on Monday night by mistake because an Israeli airstrike took place at the same time, the BBC reported.

The aircraft, which was on its way back to the Russian Hmeymim Airbase, disappeared from the radar at a time when four Israeli F-16 fighters attacked targets in Syria's Latakia province.

"As a result of the irresponsible actions of the Israeli military, 15 Russian servicemen were killed. This is absolutely not in the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership," Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a televised message.

The Russian military in Syria received a notification via a hotline about the Israeli airstrike one minute before it happened, which did not allow enough time for the Russian aircraft to move to the safe zone, Konashenkov said.

He said the Israeli jets used the Il-20 as a shield, whose effective reflective surface was 10 times larger than that of the F-16, leading to the shooting down of the Russian plane.

The Israeli jets deliberately created a dangerous situation for surface ships and aircraft in the area, the spokesman said.

"We regard the provocative actions of Israel as hostile ... We reserve the right to adequate response actions," Konashenkov said.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, saying that "the blame for the downed Russian plane and the death of the crew lies entirely on the Israeli side".

"The Russian Defence Ministry has repeatedly called on the Israeli side to refrain from attacks on the Syrian territory that threaten the safety of the Russian servicemen," Shoigu told Lieberman.

According to Russian officials, their Il-20 crashed about 27 km off the coast of Latakia.

Remains of the crew's bodies and personal belongings, as well as wreckage of the aircraft were brought aboard Russian ships. Search and rescue operations were still underway.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador Gary Koren over the incident. Israeli authorities were yet to comment on the Russian accusation.

The deadly incident occurred just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in Sochi to set up a demilitarized zone between the armed opposition and the government troops in Syria's Idlib province.