President Al-Assad Offers Condolences to Russia’s Putin on Martyrdom of Russian Soldiers in Il-20 Plane Crash

DAMASCUS, (ST)- President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday offered his sincere condolences to President Vladimir Putin of Russia on the martyrdom of Russian soldiers in the downing of Russia’s Il-20 Plane in the Mediterranean during an Israeli missile attack on Syria.

On behalf of the Syrian people and on his own behalf, President Al-Assad expressed in his cable his deep condolences to President Putin, the Russian people and the families of victims of the Il-20 plane crash that caused the martyrdom of the Russian heroes who were doing their noble duties along with their colleagues from the Russian military forces in the fight against terrorism in Syria.

This tragic incident is the result of the smugness and arrogance of the Israeli entity which always uses most obscene means to achieve its malicious goals and to carry out its aggression against the region, the cable said.

 President Al-Assad also said in the cable “we are confident that such painful acts would not prevent you and us from carrying on the fight against terrorism.”

On Monday evening, a Russian military aircraft with 15 Russian personnel on board was downed while the Syrian air defenses were responding to an Israeli missile strike that targeted Syria’s Lattakia province.

Hamda Mustafa