US Reaper drone came ‘dangerously close’ to Russian Su-34 warplane in Syria – Moscow

Military aircraft operated by a US-led alliance have been responsible for multiple risky encounters with Russian forces in Syria, Moscow claimed .

In one incident over Homs province, an MQ-9 Reaper drone belonging flew dangerously close to a Su-34 strike aircraft, the Russian military mission in Syria said at a daily briefing.

“The Russian pilot demonstrated high professionalism and took necessary measures in time to avoid collision,” a military spokesman said.

The episode was one of nine violations of deconfliction protocols perpetrated by the “terrorist coalition” in just 24 hours, according to the statement.

The protocols were signed in 2019 with a view to avoiding incidents. By failing to inform the Russian mission about its flight plans, the alliance “creates risks for air incidents and escalates the tensions in Syrian airspace.”

Other cases involved F-15, F-16 and Rafale jets flown by coalition forces near Al-Tanf, the US base in southeastern Syria near the borders with Jordan and Iraq, the statement said.