Downed Il-20 Carried Out Reconnaissance Mission Over Idlib De-escalation Zone - Shoigu

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Downed Il-20 Carried Out Reconnaissance Mission over Idlib De-escalation Zone - Shoigu

The Il-20 aircraft, shot down in Syria, was on a reconnaissance mission over the Idlib de-escalation zone, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2018) The Il-20 aircraft, shot down in Syria, was on a reconnaissance mission over the Idlib de-escalation zone, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

The Russian Hmeimim airbase lost contact with the crew of the Russian Il-20 military aircraft late on Monday during the attack of four Israeli F-16 aircraft on Syrian targets in the province of Latakia. The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier on Tuesday that the Israeli military deliberately created a dangerous situation by using the Russian aircraft as a shield against Syrian air defense systems.

"Our Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft with 15 crew on board was in the strike zone, to be more precise, between Israeli aircraft (four F-16 aircraft) and the territory of Syria. It was carrying out a reconnaissance mission over the Idlib de-escalation zone to determine the locations of storage and assembly facilities for unmanned aerial vehicles used by militants for strike at different areas of Syria," Shoigu said at a meeting with senior military commanders.