A senior Russian military official claimed yesterday (Friday) that Syrian air defense forces shot down 22 of the 24 missiles launched in an attack carried out last Thursday and attributed to Israel.
According to a report by the AP news agency, Officer Vadim Kolit said that six Israeli fighter jets aimed missiles at Syrian targets, including facilities in the Damascus and Homs districts of Lebanon's airspace.
Colit stressed that the missiles were intercepted with the Pantsyr-S and Buk-M2 air defense systems provided by Russia.
As of this moment, Israel has not responded.
This is an unusual and even first announcement of its kind by the Russian army, which has chosen to address interceptions in Syrian territory.
However, things connect to previous posts by Russian officials.
This is a confirmation from official sources in Russia of a continuing trend among Russian officials not to allow Israel to continue the routine of attacks, attributed to it by foreign sources, in Syrian territory, after years in which Moscow restrained itself from harming its allies in the country.
According to reports in Syria, in an attack on Thursday, four members of the militia loyal to Iran were killed and three others were injured.
In Lebanon, it was claimed that Israeli fighter jets used its airspace to carry out the attack.
It is important to note that the Russian systems used by the Syrians, Bock 200-m missiles, have previously shown only limited capability in intercepting missiles.
In addition, surfers on the social network filmed explosions and smoke billowing over the area of the attacks.
These photographs showed significant damage to the ground in the Kalamun Mountains area.
Against this background, the IDF confirmed yesterday that an anti-aircraft missile fired from Syria yesterday apparently exploded over Israeli territory, and the shrapnel was scattered in the south of the country.
According to confirmed reports, the missile exploded over the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea area and is investigating the possibility that parts of it also fell in the territory of Jordan.
It was also reported that the fragments have not yet been found and scans are taking place in an attempt to locate them.
