US Drones and Russian Aircraft Clash in Syria: What’s Dangerous, Russia’s Reaction

Moscow has no intention of contacting Washington after the dangerous approach of US Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russian aircraft, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

This is how the Russian diplomat commented on the incident that took place on June 29 in the province of Homs in Syria. Over the settlement of Es-Sukhna, an American MQ-9 Reaper UAV came dangerously close to a Russian Su-35 fighter jet. The high level of professionalism of the Russian Air Force pilot allowed a collision to be avoided.

He added that in this case, the provocative actions came from the United States. Ryabkov noted that such dangerous approaches would not have happened if the American aviation “was somewhere closer to the state of Texas.”

US Air Force repeatedly activates weapons system when approaching Russian aircraft

Over the past few days, American pilots have repeatedly activated their weapons systems during close approaches to Russian tactical aviation aircraft in Syria, said Major General Yuri Popov, deputy head of the Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides (CRPS).

Thus, in the course of 24 hours on June 27, the Center for Strategic and Inter-Aircraft Studies recorded eight cases of violation of the deconfliction protocol by the United States. All of them were related to dangerous provocations by American drones and fighters against Russian aviation.

“There have been two recorded cases of US Air Force fighter pilots activating their weapons systems when approaching Russian tactical aircraft that were carrying out scheduled flights,” Popov reported.

US-led coalition aircraft violated Syrian airspace 322 times in June

In June 2024, the aviation of the international anti-terrorist coalition led by the United States carried out 322 strikes violated Syrian airspace, Popov said.

“In June 2024, a total of 322 violations related to coalition aircraft flights in the At-Tanf area were recorded,” he said.

According to Popov, such actions by the coalition only create dangerous preconditions for aviation incidents, and also contribute to the growth of tension in Syrian airspace and in relations between Russia and the United States.

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov also noted that recently the US needs “additional means of intimidating Moscow, but it will not succumb to this blackmail.” According to him, recent provocations by US aircraft in the skies over Syria, as well as the Pentagon’s statements about the admissibility of Ukrainian strikes on the Crimean Peninsula, could lead to a larger-scale conflict between the countries.