2023-07-15 01:55:00
Moscow. July 15. INTERFAX.RU – A Pentagon spokesman told reporters that the United States is considering a range of military options to counter growing Russian activity in the skies over Syria, informs Associated Press (AP).
According to a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, the actions of Russian aircraft “complicated efforts to strike the leader of the Islamic State group (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) last weekend.”
The official noted that “Russian military activity (…) stems from increased cooperation and coordination between Moscow, Tehran and the Syrian government in an attempt to put pressure on the US to force them to leave Syria.”
He added that the US “witnessed” such cooperation, including cooperation, planning and intelligence sharing, mainly between Russian and Iranian mid-level leaders of the Quds Force in Syria.
At the same time, according to a Pentagon spokesman, “the United States does not believe that Russian aircraft are planning to drop bombs on American troops or shoot down manned aircraft.” However, they have concerns that Russian pilots may shoot down Reaper drones, and “Moscow believes that such actions will not receive a serious military response.”
As an example, the AR cites the March incident with the American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea. The incident exacerbated tensions between the two countries, “but did not lead to a direct military response,” the agency said.
Oleg Gurinov, deputy head of the Russian center for reconciliation of the warring parties in the SAR, said yesterday that 14 violations of deconfliction protocols were recorded in Syria over the previous day, related to flights of unmanned aerial vehicles of the international coalition led by the United States that were not coordinated with the Russian side.
“Such actions create dangerous prerequisites for aviation incidents and accidents involving civil aircraft making regular flights,” Gurinov said.
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