A Russian passenger plane was targeted with surface-to-air missiles while it flew over Syria, it has been claimed.
The lives of the 200 passengers on board the Nordwind Airlines flight
from Egypt’s resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to Kazan were only saved by
the evasive manoeuvres of the pilot, a source in Moscow told the
Interfax news agency.
‘Syrian [officials] informed us that on Monday morning, unidentified forces launched two ground-to-air missiles which exploded in the air very close to a civilian aircraft belonging to a Russian airline,’ the source said.
It is not known whether the airline was deliberately targeted nor which group fired the missiles.
According to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the plane later landed safety in Kazan, in the republic of Tatarstan.
Russia Today said the country’s embassy in Damascus was investigating the circumstances of the incident meanwhile.
Russia is Syria’s last remaining major foreign ally and has repeatedly blocked attempts by the United Nations Security Council to adopt a unified stance against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
At least 70,000 people have been killed in the two-year civil war, which began when pro-democracy protests were brutally crushed at the height of the Arab Spring.
The lives of the 200 passengers on board the Nordwind Airlines flight
from Egypt’s resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to Kazan were only saved by
the evasive manoeuvres of the pilot, a source in Moscow told the
Interfax news agency.‘Syrian [officials] informed us that on Monday morning, unidentified forces launched two ground-to-air missiles which exploded in the air very close to a civilian aircraft belonging to a Russian airline,’ the source said.
It is not known whether the airline was deliberately targeted nor which group fired the missiles.
According to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the plane later landed safety in Kazan, in the republic of Tatarstan.
Russia Today said the country’s embassy in Damascus was investigating the circumstances of the incident meanwhile.
Russia is Syria’s last remaining major foreign ally and has repeatedly blocked attempts by the United Nations Security Council to adopt a unified stance against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
At least 70,000 people have been killed in the two-year civil war, which began when pro-democracy protests were brutally crushed at the height of the Arab Spring.
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