Russia reveals the details of what happened on the night of 17 September in the skies of Syria and how the plane was downed

On Sunday, September 23, the Russian Defense Ministry published detailed information on the circumstances of the Russian Il-20 plane downed in Syria, which crashed off the coastal city of Latakia.

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, told a news conference that Moscow believes that the responsibility for the crash of the “Il-20” in Syria is entirely on the Israeli Air Force, asserting that the Israeli actions during the incident would endanger the aircraft passengers.

“The objective information provided indicates that the actions of the Israeli fighter pilots, which led to the deaths of 15 Russian soldiers, speak of their lack of professionalism or at least of criminal negligence”, Konashenkov said.

Therefore, we consider that the responsibility for the disaster of the Russian aircraft “Il-20 lies entirely with the Israeli armed air force and those who took the decision of such activity”.

“The Israeli air force has not launched its raids in the northern regions of the Syrian Arab Republic, but in the villages of Latakia, which is the province of western Syria, in the city of Latakia, located in the Syrian West Coast”.

He added that the misinformation by the Israeli officer on the area of ​​raids by Israeli fighters did not The Russian airliner El-20 is given the opportunity to leave for a safe area, he said, adding that the location of the Israeli F-16 fighter jets was not known.

He stressed that Israel did not inform Russia of the location of F-16 fighter jets on the day of the “Il-20” incident.

“The Israeli F-16 fighter jets were not identified after the attack.

The Israeli planes again occupied Al-Manawab area, 70 kilometers west of the Syrian coast, causing disturbances in electronic radio and possibly preparing for a second strike at 21.59

One of the Israeli planes began maneuvering towards the Syrian coast, and approached the “Il-20”, which was planning to land, and this was realized through the accounts of the Syrian air defense to launch a new attack by Israeli aircraft.

“Israeli planes did not leave their airspace; they remained in the same area and continued in the air until 22:40.

At 22:22, the officer in charge of the Russian group in Syria informed the Israeli officer at the Air Force Command that the Russian Il-20 was in distress and called for the aircraft to be withdrawn from the area, because we were using rescue equipment, and only at 22.53, 50 minutes after the missile hit the Russian “Il-20”, the operations officer at the Israeli Air Force headquarters at the rank of colonel called and reported.

“We received your information about the El-20 disaster and we surveyed the area “, He said.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, “The representative of the Israeli Air Force Command colonel informed the leadership of the Russian forces in Syria via the channel of communication to prevent the military collision with the next strike on the sites of Syria”.

The news was that “Israel will change locations in northern Syria in the next few minutes”.

Within one minute, at 1:20 am, four Israeli F-16 fighter jets launched air strikes on industrial facilities in Latakia province with GBU-39 guided bombs.

He explained that these acts are a direct violation of the Russian-Israeli agreements signed in 2015 to prevent clashes between our armed forces in Syria.

He confirmed that, the representative of the General Staff of the Israeli Air Force informed the Russian party during the negotiations through the communication channel to prevent a military collision in the airspace that the targets, which was planned to hit during the flight of Israeli aircraft in northern Syria, adding that the commander of the Russian crew which was flying over northern Syria received instructions to leave the mission area and head south to return to the base.