Russia claims its air defense systems don’t counter Israeli attacks in Syria for political reasons
Russian air defense systems deployed in Syria do not shoot down Israeli missiles for political reasons, said Dmitry Danilov, head of the European Security Department of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), during a conversation at the Patriot Media Center as part of the discussion "Defenders of Europe is a threat to peace. Why is NATO conducting new exercises in the face of the epidemic?"
Danilov stressed that if the orders to destroy the Israeli missiles had been given by Russian military command there would have been no technical problems to carry them out, but Moscow regards Damascus and Jerusalem as partners in the Middle East conflict.
"It is not about dividing Syria and Israel into partners or allies and adversaries. For us, Israel is as much a partner in international relations, including in the middle east, as is Syria. In this sense, yes, we fall into a known trap, when it is very difficult to respond to certain Israel's actions. But, in this respect, Israel cannot be considered as a military adversary of Russia. Therefore, the possibilities of countering Israeli missile strikes in Syria are quite limited precisely for political reasons," Danilov was quoted as saying by the Russian Federal News Agency.
Danilov was asked a clarifying question: "So we can, but we don't want to?" - and said, "Yes."
"Note that Western media regularly reports about some overwhelming technical superiority of Israeli weapons, which allegedly does not allow Russian air defense to destroy missiles and aircraft, which are used by this country," Russian Federal News Agency writes.
The "silence" of Russian air defense systems, which are deployed in Syria, during Israeli attacks has been questioned many times by Russian, Israeli and Western media.
In April 2019, a well-known military analyst Babak Taghvaee explained the silence of the Russian S-300 by the fact that Israel used new Rampage missiles during their attacks.
The Rampage was first demonstrated in June 2018. Russia compared it to its own Kinzhal missile, primarily due to its aeroballistic trajectory that makes it difficult to intercept. The Russian news outlet Avia.pro believes that the missile is the reason behind the success of the Israeli operations.
The Israeli-developed Rampage air-to-surface missile can be fired from 4th and 5th generation fighters and used to destroy enemy aerial defense systems and other facilities. It is 4.7 m in length, has a range of 150 km, and carries a 150 kg warhead.