The accidental downing of the Russian electronic intelligence aircraft Il-20 with fifteen crew on 18 September by Syrian air defence forces was immediately followed by claims from the Ministry of Defence to the effect that the shootdown did not result from Russian ineptitude but due to Israeli air force planes bombing the Syrians but hiding behind the radar signature of the Il-20. Yet the Israelis launched their attack from hundreds of kilometres out to sea and by the time the Syrian missile battery woke up to what was happening and launched their missiles, the Israelis were back home, according to the Israeli air force.

This story looks like yet another inept improvisation of the truth by the Russian Ministry of Defence. In a commentary published today by Novaya gazeta, ironically entitled “The Jews are Guilty of Everything!”, Pavel Fel’gengauer makes the point that the Russian aircraft was actually coming in to land at the Russian base of Khmeimim to the south after monitoring communications over Idlib. Furthermore the anti-aircraft missile battery had a Russian military adviser who approved the missile launch despite the fact that the Khmeimim base was so near and the Il-20’s flight was known about. Instead the Russian Defence Ministry decided to brief President Putin to the effect that the Israelis were actually responsible. “Much better than answering to their own slipshod behaviour”, Novaya gazeta argues.

The event is troubling in many aspects and not just the issue of Ministry of Defence mendacity iterated in the previous posting. The Syrian coastline abuts onto busy waterways. The Russians are there, the Israelis are there, the Americans are there, the French are there, and the Turks are there. All armed to the teeth and on the alert. Any significant military incompetence could all too easily lead to a major crisis in relations between heavily armed Powers in an enclosed space. The various Powers need to talk about this in anticipation of a more serious collision by accident, if they are not already doing so.