It's the sixth reported incident this month, and the second in the past 24 hours, in which the U.S. has said Russian warplanes have flown dangerously close to American manned and unmanned aircraft.
“The United States are continuing to disinform the public about unlawful flights of its drones in the Syrian air space that have failed to undergo deconflicting procedure while accusing the Russian side of dangerous maneuvering,” Gurinov said in a statement carried by the Interfax news agency.
Experts say Russia is likely conducting the harassing attacks to support Iran’s goal of ousting U.S. forces from Syria, with a senior U.S. defense official saying Iran wants to be able to more easily move lethal aid to Lebanese Hezbollah and threaten Israel. Russia relies on Iran's support for the Kremlin's war operations in Ukraine.
But the intercepts raise questions as to how the U.S. will respond and whether the risk of a larger confrontation is increasing. Both the U.S. and Russia are conducting missions in Syria. Russia backs the government of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. is working with the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in operations against IS extremists. The SDF is in a civil war with Assad.—on Sunday, a Russian fighter aircraft flew “dangerously close” to a U.S. MQ-9 drone conducting a mission against IS militants and deployed flares from directly overhead. The aircraft were only a few meters apart.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Russian fighter jet damages US Reaper drone with flare over Syria: OfficialsA Russian fighter jet fired flares directly at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Syria on Sunday, damaging its propeller, according to U.S. Air Forces Central
Les mer »
Russian Fighter Jet Damages U.S. Drone With Flares Over Syria“One of the Russian flares struck the U.S. MQ-9, severely damaging its propeller.'
Les mer »
Russian fighter jet damages US military drone over Syria | CNN PoliticsA Russian fighter jet flew “dangerously close” to a US drone over Syria and damaged it with flares, according to the US Air Force, in the latest in a series of incidents between the two militaries in the Middle East.
Les mer »
Russian fighter jet fired flares at US drone over Syria and damaged it, US military saysIn recent weeks, U.S. officials said, Russian fighter jets have repeatedly harassed U.S. MQ-9 drones, which are conducting anti-Islamic State group missions, largely in western Syria.
Les mer »