Russia accuses US of violating airspace in north Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A drone of the US-led Global Coalition “dangerously” approached Russian airplanes in northern Syria, TASS reported on Sunday.
TASS reported, citing Rear Admiral Oleg Gurinov, deputy head of Russian Reconciliation Centre for Syria as saying, “Of special concern is a near-midair collision of a coalition’s MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle with Russian warplanes” occurred near the city of al-Bab, northern Syria.
He also pointed out several cases occurred where Coalition drones provoked Russian aircraft, leading to the activation of their onboard defense systems.
Russian forces displayed “high professionalism” to avoid collisions with the Coalition’s drones, Gurinov added.
On July 5, the US Air Forces Central publicized a video showing three Russian war jets close in on three US MQ-9 aircraft that were taking part in a mission against Islamic State (ISIS) over Syria.
On July 7, the US revealed that Russian war jets, once again, intercepted US MQ-9 Reaper drones over Syria, marking increasing friction between the two militaries in the airspace.
Over the last several years, the US and Russia have used a de-confliction line between the two militaries in Syria to avoid unintentional mistakes or encounters that can inadvertently lead to escalation.
The two parties continue to accuse each other of violating the airspace in Syria.
The Russian Center stated that “ten violations of the de-confliction protocols of December 9, 2019, linked with the flights by the coalition drones were reported in Syria in the past 24 hours.”