Russian MoD Reports Incident With US F-22
Fighter Over Syria's Euphates River
15:36 09.12.2017(updated 16:16 09.12.2017)
The Russian Defense Ministry has called the
presence of the US air force in Syria illegal.
"An American F-22 fighter actively prevented the
Russian pair of Su-25 attack aircraft from carrying out a combat
mission to destroy the Daesh stronghold in the suburbs of the
city of Mayadin in the airspace over the western bank
of the Euphrates River on November 23. The F-22 aircraft fired
off heat flares and released brake shields with permanent
maneuvering, imitating an air battle," Major-General Igor Konashenkov, the
Russian Defense Ministry's spokesperson said on Saturday.
The Defense Ministry has commented on the US claims
regarding Syria's airspace, explaining that the majority of near-misses
between US and Russian planes in Syria and in the area
of the Euphrates were connected with the Washington's attempts
to hinder Daesh's defeat.
"The statements of the US Army
representatives that a part of the Syrian airspace belongs to the US
is puzzling," Konashenkov stated, reminding the Pentagon that "Syria
is a sovereign state and a member of the United Nations, therefore, the
United States does not own any part of sky."
At the same time, he noted that "after the
appearance of a Russian multifunctional super maneuverable Su-35S fighter,
the American fighter stopped dangerous maneuvers and hurried to move
into Iraqi airspace."
The ministry's representative has also noted that the US
has failed to give any answer to the Russian command at the
Khmeimim airbase in Syria "concerning this and many other incidents
in the Syrian sky," the general added.
US-Russia Possible Collision in Syrian
Sky
The statement was made in the wake of The New
York Times newspaper's Friday's report, citing US commanders as expressing
their concern over a possible collision between Russian and US
warplanes over Syria, which might take place because of alleged
violations of the deescalation deal by the Russian side a dozen times a day since the
agreement had come into force.
"It’s become increasingly tough
for our pilots to discern whether Russian pilots are deliberately
testing or baiting us into reacting, or if these are just honest mistakes…
The greatest concern is that we could shoot down a Russian aircraft
because its actions are seen as a threat to our air or ground
forces," Lt. Col. Damien Pickart was quoted as saying by the
media.
Col. Jeff Hogan, deputy commander of the air
operations center at the Qatar base, told the newspaper that he had daily
phone calls with Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov,
but because of occasional misunderstandings, he had to make
additional calls.
According to the newspaper, the military explained
Moscow's actions by the desire to entrench the positions of the
Syrian army and cement its territorial acquisitions ahead of the peace
talks aimed at ending the seven-year war.
The report was made in the wake of Putin's
Wednesday's announcement, saying that that the Daesh terrorist group (banned
in Russia) had been completely defeated on both banks of the
Euphrates River in Syria, following a similar Gerasimov's statement
on the same day, declaring that the remaining terrorists had been defeated
in Deir ez-Zor.
US-Russia Deconfliction Deal
The United States and Russia signed a bilateral
memorandum of understanding to ensure flight safety
during combat missions over Syria in October 2015, specifying
that the deconfliction would be implemented
in different ways, with the help of separate telephone lines
for air and ground deconfliction, as well as face-to-face
meetings.
In November 2017, the Russian Defense Ministry said that
the planes of the US-led coalition were trying to impede the Russian
Aerospace Forces’ operations in Syria's Al Bukamal. However, the
disagreements were later resolved and the sides agreed to fly
on opposite sides of a 45-mile stretch of the Euphrates River
to avoid collisions.
The US-led coalition of more than 70 members
has been conducting airstrikes, ground-based and rocket-propelled artillery
fire against Daesh in Syria and Iraq since 2014. These actions,
however, were not authorized in Syria either by the government
of President Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council.
Meanwhile, the Russian Aerospace Forces have been present
in Syria since September 2015, following an official request
from Assad. Since March 2016, following Vladimir Putin's order
to pull out the bulk of the forces from the country, Russia
maintains a military presence in Syria to train and assist local
troops.
Original post: sputniknews.com
July 2017 - newsweek.com
December 2017 - newsweek.com
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