Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu says his country will supply a S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria within two weeks.
This comes a week after Russia blamed Israel for indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military plane in Syria.
The crash, which killed 15 Russian service members had forced Moscow to take “adequate retaliatory measures to increase the safety of Russian military fighting international terrorism in Syria.
“A modern S-300 air defense missile system will be transferred to the Syrian armed forces within two weeks,” he said. The system will “significantly increase the Syrian army’s combat capabilities,” he said.
Russia, which fights in Syria to support the government, has said Syria shot the IL-20 surveillance plane down by mistake shortly after Israeli jets hit a nearby target. Russia blamed Israel for creating dangerous conditions that caused the crash.
Israel, which has struck Syria scores of times during the seven-year war, said after the incident that it would work to improve “deconfliction” of its missions with Russian forces, but would not halt them. It has long lobbied Moscow not to provide the S-300 to Syria.
