MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2018) The Israeli Air Force did not use Russia's Il-20 military jet that was downed in Syria as a shield against the Syrian air defense during its operation in Latakia and warned Moscow of its launch in due time, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry reiterated, during a briefing on circumstance of the Il-20 incident, that blame for the Russian aircraft's crash fully rested with Israel, which put the Il-20 under fire of the Syrian air defense.
"The deconfliction mechanism operated in the relevant timeframe (as it has been operating over the last two and a half years); the IAF did not hide behind any aircraft," the IDF said on its Twitter blog.
The IDF added that comprehensive and accurate details about the operation of the Israeli fighters had been provided to the Russian side and reiterated once again that "the Israeli aircraft were in Israeli airspace at the time of the downing of the Russian plane."
Russia's Il-20 was downed in 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) off the Mediterranean coast when it was on its way back to the Hmeimim air base late on Monday, September 17.At the same time four Israeli F-16 jets carried out attacks on targets in Syria's Latakia. Meanwhile, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, Israel warned Russia about the airstrike just in a minute before its launch, misleading Moscow about the exact impact location and failing to inform of the exact location of the F-16 fighters. According to the Russian military, the Israeli jets used the Russian as a shield against the Syrian air defense at 10:03 p.m. local time (19:03 GMT). A total of 15 Russian servicemen were killed as a result of the incident.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that the Israeli Air Force and those who were responsible for the Israeli fighters' operation bore the overall responsibility for the Russian military jet's crash. According to the Ministry, Russia informed Israel of the tragic accident at 22:29 local time and asked to remove the Israeli jets from the accident's area, however, according to the information of the Russian radars, the Israeli F-16 remained there until 22:53.
