Shortly after Russia and Turkey agreed to create a Buffer Zone in Syria in order to avoid a major Offensive against insurgents in Idlib Province, Israel attacked Syria’s military forces with Cruise Missiles and F-16s.
At some point during the 40-minute or so Air assault, Russia lost contact with a military plane carrying 15 Russians soldiers.
Reuters:
The plane was over the Mediterranean Sea about 35 km (20 miles) from the Syrian coastline, Russia’s TASS news agency quoted the ministry as saying in a statement.
“The trace of the Il-20 on flight control radars disappeared during an attack by four Israeli F-16 jets on Syrian facilities in Latakia province,” the statement was quoted as saying.
“At the same time Russian air control radar systems detected rocket launches from the French frigate Auvergne which was located in that region.”
The fate of the 14 people on board the missing plane is unknown, and a rescue operation has been organized out of the Hmeymim base, the ministry said.
UPDATE: Russia confirms the plane was shot down by Syrian Air Defenses during the Israeli air strike.
The agreement between Turkey and Russia is a BIG deal and could finally lead to the No-Fly Zone that the UN and NATO have wanted to create in Syria for the past few years. Syria and Russia seem to have decided to back down rather than go forward with a difficult operation to retake Idlib.
Why Israel decided to launch an assault on Syria near Russian bases in Lakatia shortly after a deal was reached is a major head-scratcher. The attack seems unprovoked. Hopefully it doesn’t lead to setback in the attempts to de-escalate Syria’s 7 year war...