Russian Defense Ministry accused Israel of using airliners as a shield

The Airbus-320, with 172 passengers on board, could be under fire from Syria's air defense systems due to an Israeli fighter strike on the suburbs of Damascus on February 6. On February 7, the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov told journalists. According to Konashenkov, the passenger liner Airbus-320 with 172 passengers on board, flying Tehran-Damascus, landed at Damascus airport just at the time of the attack of Israeli fighters and almost found itself in the area of deadly anti-aircraft missile and artillery fire. Only thanks to the operational actions of the airport dispatchers Damascus and the effective operation of the automated air traffic control system managed to remove the passenger Airbus-320 from the area of Syrian air defense attack and safely land it on the nearest spare airfield at the Russian air base Khmeimim, Konashenkov said. The representative of the Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the Israeli Air Force is becoming a characteristic of the Israeli General Staff's planned air strike operations by using civilian aircraft with passengers to cover up Syria's air defense response. According to the news agency, on the morning of February 6, Syria's air defenses successfully repelled two missile attacks by Israel. It is noted that the Syrian Armed Forces positions in the vicinity of Damascus were hit by missiles, after which a wave of attacks hit the cities of Deraa and Quneitra.