Putin: crash due to tragic circumstances

moscow - The shooting down of a Russian army apparatus in Syria seems to be the result of 'a tragic coincidence,' said Russian President Vladimir Putin, who proposed to take additional measures to ensure the safety of Russian troops in Syria.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that the Russian IL-20 has been knocked down by Syrian air defense. He tried to repel an Israeli air strike at that time. The Russian plane would have been accidentally touched. The department reproached Israel for creating a dangerous situation.

Putin later said in Moscow that the incident can not be compared to the knockdown of a Russian fighting machine by Turkey. This led to a diplomatic conflict between the countries in 2015. According to Putin, the difference is that Israel did not shoot the crashed IL-20 out of the air. 'But of course we have to thoroughly figure out what has happened. '

The Israeli army itself points to Syria with an accusing finger. The Syrian forces would have fired 'blindly', apparently without checking whether befriended aircraft were in danger.