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Latakia, Syria, September 17, 2018: Initial reports indicated Israel shot down a Russian IL-20 airplane. Latakia is home to a Russian Military Base. Four F16 Israeli jets were reported in the altercation. Fifteen (15) Russian service men are reported dead.

Map: Russian Defense Ministry

“Israel did not warn the command of the Russian troops in Syria about the planned operation. We received a notification via a hotline less than a minute before the strike, which did not allow the Russian aircraft to be directed to a safe zone,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

Timeline of events provided at link below by Sputnik News.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201809181068121621-france-russia-plane-syria

Click on the link below for additional analysis and geography.

The following is a sequence of tweets from the Israeli Defense Force spokesperson.

Israel expresses sorrow for the death of the aircrew members of the Russian plane that was downed tonight due to Syrian anti-aircraft fire. Israel holds the Assad regime, whose military shot down the Russian plane, fully responsible for this incident.

Israel also holds Iran and the Hezbollah terror organization accountable for this unfortunate incident.

Overnight, IDF fighter jets targeted a facility of the Syrian Armed Forces from which systems to manufacture accurate and lethal weapons were about to be transferred on behalf of Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The IDF and the Russian army have a deconfliction system, which was agreed upon by the states’ leaders, and has proven itself many times over recent years. This system was in use tonight as well.

An initial inquiry of the incident suggests:

1. Extensive and inaccurate Syrian anti-aircraft (Surface to Air missile) fire caused the Russian plane to be hit and downed.

2. When the Syrian Army launched the missiles that hit the Russian plane, IAF jets were already within Israeli airspace.

3. During the strike against the target in Latakia, the Russian plane that was then hit was not within the area of the operation.

4. The Syrian anti-air batteries fired indiscriminately and from what we understand, did not bother to ensure that no Russian planes were in the air.

Israel will share all the relevant information with the Russian Government to review the incident and to confirm the facts in this inquiry.

“By using the Russian plane as a cover the Israeli air pilots made it vulnerable to Syrian air defense fire. As a result, the Ilyushin-20, its reflective surface being far greater than that of F-16, was downed by a missile launched with the S-200 system,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

Russian President Vladimir Putin statement, “Israel didn’t shoot down the Russian plane deliberately. It was a result of a chain of tragic circumstances.”

For detail of recent events, click on the link below from the Times of Israel.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-blames-israel-after-syria-downs-plane-while-trying-to-repel-attack/

Russia has requested the Israeli envoy to Moscow. The diplomat has arrived and discussions have started. This is a developing story. The plot thickens…

Ezekiel 38:4 And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.

Ezekiel 39:2 And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel.