Russian President Vladimir Putin is known for his reckless behavior, but what he just did in Syria crossed every red line.
British media reported Tuesday that Russia broke an agreement with the United States by allowing its fighter jets to carry out simulated attacks on American warplanes in Syrian airspace.
The incidents involved American F-15 jets that are stationed on the Turkish air base Incirlik.
“While over Syria, the F-15s became a particular target for Russian pilots who ‘took the opportunity to practise aggressive manoeuvring against US aircraft, including positioning for simulated attacks,'” Keir Giles of Chatham House, the institute that revealed the incidents, told the British newspaper Telegraph.
“While striking the enemies of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on the ground, the Russian air force has also carried out “aggressive and provocative manoeuvres against Western aircraft in Syria,” Giles added.
The dangerous provocation by Putin’s air force followed on Western Journalism report of two Russian SU-24 warplanes who made a very low altitude pass by the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea on April 12.
The two Russian jets came within 30 feet of the American destroyer and were photographed by U.S. sailors. The U.S. accused Russia after the incidents of unsafe and aggressive manoeuvres.
The incident with the Russian SU-24 warplanes and the USS Donald Cook Photo credit U.S. Navy
In 2015, Russian and American military delegations agreed on a memorandum of understanding that aimed to prevent precisely this type of incidents in Syria. The memorandum stated that all Russian and American warplanes, other planes and helicopters would stay at a safe distance from each other and would conduct communication in English via official radio channels.
Russia has a similar security protocol with Israel but despite the understandings with the IDF and IAF, Russian airplanes have breached Israeli airspace on several occasions.
“If there is a violation (of Israeli airspace), we know what to do and how to prevent an escalation,” Israeli top defense official Amos Gilad said at the time. He made the remarks after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane that entered Turkish airspace for a few seconds.
It was not the first time Putin’s air force made dangerous moves that have sparked a war with the United States or with the NATO.
In 2014, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that NATO fighter jets had intercepted Russian warplanes in European airspace over one hundred times after they didn’t abide by standard safety procedures and endangered civilian air traffic.
This type of incident was a feature of the Cold War, Chatham wrote in its report. The incidents were deliberate attempts to provoke the U.S. as the incident with the USS Donald Cook showed.
“Low-level flying of this kind without endangering surface vessels or other aircraft demands a significant level of skill, and there is no room for error or miscalculation. In one instance in May 1968, a Soviet Tu-16 Badger buzzed the aircraft carrier USS Essex in a similar manner – and crashed into the sea,” Chatham wrote.
The White House apparently still thinks that the Russian provocations don’t deserve a firm response.
After the incident with the USS Donald Cook White House spokesman John Earnest said these kind of activities are not particularly unusual and that the administration knows how to express its concerns to the Russians.
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