In Washington, According to U.S. sources, a Russian fighter jet flew extremely near to a U.S. surveillance plane over Syria, forcing it to pass through its tumultuous wake and endangering the lives of the four American crew members.
“Russian Fighter Jet Endangers American Lives in Syria: Latest Incident Sparks Concern”
“Escalating Encounters: Russian Fighter Jet’s a close call with US Warplane in Syria”
“Growing Russian Aggression: US Considers Military Measures in Syrian Skies”
“Dangerous Skies: Russian Fighter Jets Harass US Drones, Endangering American Crew”
“Tensions Rise as Russian Fighter Jet Intercepts US Surveillance Plane over Syria”
According to the officials, the incident, which occurred on Sunday shortly before noon EDT, marked a dramatic uptick in recent run-ins between American and Russian aircraft in Syria.
According to the officials, the Russian Su-35’s intercept prevented the American crew from flying their MC-12 aircraft safely. It was a new level of unsafe action that may have caused an accident or fatalities.
Russian fighter jets have been harassing American unmanned MQ-9 drones in recent weeks, but the most recent incident caused concern because it put American lives in danger.
The authorities would not specify how close the Russian fighter came to the American warplane while speaking on the record about the specifics of a military operation. The twin-engine turboprop MC-12, which special operations personnel frequently utilize, was conducting surveillance in support of operations against the Islamic State terrorists in Syria, according to the authorities.
Russian fighter jets have repeatedly flown dangerously close to MQ-9 Reapers over the past two weeks, throwing off flares and causing the drones to perform evasive maneuvers. During the interactions, military personnel from the U.S. and Russia routinely exchange complaints about one another’s behavior via a deconfliction phone line.
According to a senior defense official, the U.S. is exploring some military measures to combat the growing Russian aggression in the skies over Syria, which hindered efforts to target an Islamic State group leader earlier this month. Eventually, a strike was launched by the U.S., killing the insurgent.
The official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, declined to go into detail about the options under consideration but insisted that the United States would not cede any land and would keep flying anti-Islamic State missions in the country’s western region.
Since March, Russian military operations have grown more frequent and aggressive, resulting from rising coordination and cooperation between Moscow, Tehran, and the Syrian government to pressure the United States to withdraw from Syria.
About 900 American troops are present in the nation, while more come and go to carry out operations against militants with the Islamic State organization.
