Russian military airplane Il-20 was shot down in Syria, causing death of 14 passengers and 1 crew. The aircraft disappeared near Hmeymim airbase in Syria and later fragments of the plane and bodies of the soldiers were found on 27 km west of the village of Banias in the Syrian province of Latakia.
“On September 17, at about 20:00 GMT, the communication with the crew of the Russian Il-20 aircraft was lost when it was over the Mediterranean Sea, some 35 kilometers from the Syrian coast, on its way back to Hmeymim airbase”, says the official statement of the Russian Defence Ministry. “Fragments of the airplane, bodies of the crew and personal belongings, as well as wreckage of the plane, were brought aboard the Russian ships”, added later the ministry.
Eight vessels of the Russian Navy were brought in the search and rescue operation. The experimental vessel Seliger was dispatched at the scene of the accident, which carries unmanned underwater vehicles Super GNOME and RT-2500, capable of submerging to a depth of up to 2,500 m.
The ministry blamed Israel’s “irresponsible actions” for the incident, saying Israeli fighter jet pilots intentionally used the aircraft as cover against Syrian missiles in a “deliberate provocation”.
According to the information from the US intelligence services, the Russian military airplane Il-20 was accidentally shot down by the anti-aircraft forces of the Syrian government troops, when trying to repulse rocket fire from Israel.
“The Il-20, which has a much bigger reflective surface than the F-16, was struck down by an S-200 rocket”, said the spokesman of the Russian Defence Ministry, Igor Konashenkov. “We retain the right to an appropriate response”, added he, without giving details on whether that response could include military action.
