Russia & Israel: Report Disbelieved

“We don’t believe Israel Defense Forces Story about downed Russian plane.” – Pres Putin to PM Netanyahu

9-24-18, Israel Natl News – On Sept 18, 2018 Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft was downed after an Israeli airstrike on a military research facility in northern Syria. An IDF delegation was dispatched to Moscow last week to share information collected by Israel as part of its investigation into the incident.

The Russian government has refused to accept the validity of Israel’s investigation into the downing of the plane, holding Israel responsible for the plane’s destruction and the loss of all fifteen Russian crew members.
 
During a phone conversation on Sept 24, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he did not accept Israel’s explanation that Israel Air Force fighter jets operating in Syria did not use a Russian Ilyushin IL-20 spy plane as radar cover. He said the IDF was negligent in its actions during the Syria airstrike and failure to give proper warning to Russia regarding the impending strike.
​
Netanyahu told Putin he had full faith in the IDF report, which found the Syrian military responsible for the downing of the plane and was extremely regretful for the loss of life. He denied Putin's claims saying Israel's jets were already out of the combat zone and in Israeli airspace when the IL-20 was downed, and that the IL-20 had been far from the area of the airstrikes during the Israeli operation. More here

Back Story:
On Monday night, 9-17-18, Russian Air Force Ilyushin IL-20 "Coot-A" electronic intelligence and radar reconnaissance aircraft monitoring the Idlib province of Syria was mistakenly shot down by Syrian air defense forces after an Israeli air strike on facilities in Latakia, Syria. It went down in the Mediterranean, about 17 miles off the Syrian coast near Latakia, with a loss of all 15 Russian crew members.

At first Russian President Vladimir Putin said the downing was the result of a "chain of tragic accidental circumstances."

However, the Russian Defense Ministry has laid the blame for the downing on the Israelis, saying: "The Israeli pilots used the Russian plane as cover and set it up to be targeted by the Syrian air defense forces. As a consequence, the Il-20, which has a radar cross-section much larger than the F-16, was shot down by a Syrian S-200 system missile."  More here and here