Israel's Misleading Info On Area Of Strikes On Syria Led To Il-20 Crash - Russian Military

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2018) The Israeli Air Force provided Russia with misleading information concerning the area of its airstrikes on Syria, which prevented the commander of the Russian Il-20 jet from moving to the safe zone and led to its crash, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.

"During the negotiations via the deconfliction channel, the representative of the Israeli Air Force Command reported that the targets assigned to the Israeli aircraft are located in Northern Syria ... As you can see on the map, the Israeli jets delivered strikes in Latakia which is a western province of the country - and not in the north of the Syrian Arab Republic.

The city of Latakia is located on the western coast," Konashenkov said at a briefing.

The commander of the Il-20 flying over the north of Syria was immediately ordered to leave the area and head south to return to the military base, the spokesman stressed.

Israel also did not provided any information about the location of the F-16 jets, Konashenkov added.

"The misleading information provided by the Israeli officer about the area of strikes did not allow the Russian Il-20 airplane to move timely to a safe area," he stated.