US special representative for the Syrian dialogue, James Jeffrey believes that the Russian IL-20 shot down Syrian air defense weapons, but the reason for this were Israeli fighters. The same version was voiced earlier in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. "Ten days ago, allegedly Israeli forces attacked Iranian military targets, as a result, the Syrian armed forces attempted to attack the alleged Israeli forces and eventually hit the Russian armed forces," RIA Novosti quotes him.. Jeffrey stressed that the incident with the aircraft is a dangerous example of an escalation in the republic.

He called on all parties to the conflict in Syria to work closely with each other so that more such incidents would not happen.. The Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, on board of which there were 15 Russian servicemen, was shot down by Syria’s air defense system on the evening of September 17 over the Mediterranean. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Israeli planes that fired Syrian Latakia with rockets fired Il-20s.. In Moscow, Israel was accused of reporting a forthcoming attack on Syria just a minute before it began, reminds RIA FAN.