Israel-Russia military cooperation continues, claim Israeli sources

A senior military delegation from Israel wrapped up a visit to Moscow on Friday by clarifying that cooperation with Russia is continuing despite the allegations that Israeli missiles downed a Russian aircraft recently, local media have reported. Israel was not the reason why Syrian missiles had shot down the aircraft, the delegation explained.

According to Haaretz, the group of officers “presented maps, documents and a presentation showing a step-by-step breakdown of the incident.” It also reported a senior military source who said that the Russians were told that, “Syria fired over 20 missiles at the aircraft ‘in an unprofessional manner’ during the incident.” The officers noted that the Israeli fighter planes had already landed at their home base before the incident took place.

However, Haaretz cited Al-Mayadeen’s correspondent in Moscow reporting that the Russians had rejected the Israeli findings and asked Israel to launch a new probe into the incident.

Cypriot media, meanwhile, reported that Russia had stepped up its naval operations off the coast of Syria following the downing of the Russian plane. Local reports added that Russia has closed areas near Cyprus to air, land and sea traffic from Thursday until next Wednesday for the sake of military operations. Israeli sources have confirmed these reports.

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