Pentagon denies Russian claims of downing US missiles during strike in Syria
Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said on April 25 that images of buildings in Damascus destroyed by rocket attacks refute allegations by the Russian military that only 22 out of 105 missiles reached their intended target, RIA Novosti reports.
"The statements by General Rudskoy that only 22 out of 105 of our missiles hit their targets can easily be refuted. We provided open access images of targets before and after strikes. With regard to Russian official statements about the insurmountable Russian missile defense in Syria, the results were rather modest," said Pahon.
Colonel-General Sergei Rudskoy, who serves as the chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, said that of the 105 missiles declared by the United States, Britain and France to have hit their intended target in Syria, no more than 22 hits were actually recorded.
The Western countries have accused the Russian and Syrian authorities of using chemical weapons in the city of the Duma. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 43 people are dead and 500 injured, all showing symptoms associated with poisoning by toxic chemicals.
During the night of April 14, the United States, Britain and France inflicted air strikes on a number of sites in Syria in response to the chemical attack.