MOSCOW: A high-ranking Russian military official has said that the US-led coalition violated Syrian airspace 16 times in a day, Turkish media reported Tuesday.
Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, deputy head of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria, said overall 16 violations were noted in the area of the US Al-Tanf military base.
F-35, F-16, Typhoon, Rafale fighter jets and three MQ-1C multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicles and one MC-12W violated the Syrian airspace.
Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit said an MQ-9 drone of the US-led coalition came very close to the Russian Su-34 fighter jet in Raqqa province.
MQ-9 Drone approach a Russian Su-34 fighter jet
He said, the Russian side was not informed about the drone flight, which is usually done to avoid incidents, in a process called “deconflicting.”
He added the Russian pilots demonstrated high professional skills by taking timely measures to avoid the collision with an unmanned aerial vehicle of the coalition which was flying at a dangerous distance of less than 100 meters.
He accused the international anti-terrorist coalition led by the US of continuously creating dangerous situations in the skies of Syria, flying in violation of deconflicting protocols and violating Syrian airspace.
