Russia puts blame on Israel after military plane shot down by Syria

Syria has shot down the Russian reconnaissance plane Ilyushin-20 but Russia has blamed Israel for the lost of 15 personnel aboard. Russian Defense Ministry says the Israeli jet pilots "used the Russian plane as a cover," reports ria.ru. This confirms earlier US media reports that the Il-20 was shot down by Syrian air defense systems (S-200).

Euroradio reports earlier that the plane disappeared off the radar on the evening of 17 September. The incident on Monday reportedly occurred about 35km (22 miles) from the Syrian coast as the Ilyushin Il-20 aircraft was returning to Russia's Hmeimim airbase near the north-western city of Latakia. According to Russian sources, the plane disappeared during an attack by four Israeli F-16 jets on Syrian facilities in Latakia province. The jets were reportedly approaching for an attack from the sea side.

Russian Defense Ministry has called the incident "an Isreali provocation" and "hostile actions."

"15 Russian personnel died as a result of Israeli military's irresponsible actions. This is absolutely contrary to the spirit of Russian-Israeli partnership," Gen.-Maj. Igor Konoshenkov from Russian Defense Ministry said. According to the Russian general, Israel had warned Russia about the planned aerial attack on the Syrian assets only one minute before the raid. Russian Defense Ministry is confident that the Israeli pilots had the Russian plane on approach for landing in sight.

Ilyushin-20 is a military plane equipped for radioelectronic reconnaissance and radioelectronic warfare missions.