Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu officially stated that Israel bears full responsibility for the downning of Russian IL-20 plane off Syrian coast because its actions had led to this situation.

“The blame for the downing of the Russian plane and the deaths of its crew members lies squarely on the Israeli side,” Shoigu said during a convesation with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the phone. “The actions of the Israeli military were not in keeping with the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership, so we reserve the right to respond.”

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed that Israeli warplanes used the IL-20 to hide from Syrian air defense fire during the September 17 strike on targets in the war-torn country.

On September 4, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated that over the last 1.5 years Israel has carried out around 200 airstrikes on Syria using 800 munitions. The scale of the strikes shows Israel’s long-standing intention to remain a powerbroker in the ongoing Syrian conflict. It’s interesting to note that in most of the cases, the IDF strikes led to a further escalation of the war thus making situation more complicated.

The situation is developing.

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Featured image is from TASS.