Russia announced on Monday that it will supply the Syrian government with more modern, S-300 missile defence systems following last week’s downing of a Russian plane by Syria, a friendly fire incident that sent regional tensions over the war-torn country soaring.
The Russian military aircraft was downed by Syrian government missile defence systems, killing all 15 people on board. Russia laid the blame squarely on Israel, saying Israeli fighter jets had pushed the Russian plane into the line of Syria’s fire.
Shortly before the downing, Israeli strikes had hit targets inside Syria, reportedly preventing an arms shipment going to the Iranian-backed militant Hezbollah group.
Russia launched its campaign in Syria to support President Bashar Assad in 2015, and though the involvement turned the tide of war in favour of Syrian government forces, Moscow has since tried to play a careful balancing act, maintaining good ties both with Iran and Israel.
