Syrian special forces have launched an investigation in the area where a Russian Su-25 jet was recently shot down by a MANPAD rocket.
“The group that had the MANPAD has been destroyed by the Russian Air Force. Now the Syrian commandos are working on the ground. If they find elements of that launcher, we could trace its serial number and establish its origin to the factory in a few days, find out how it got there,” said Russian Member of Parliament Vikotor Volodarsky on Sunday.
Senior Russian lawmakers have also urged the country to probe the origin of the man-portable air-defense system, which was reportedly used to down the Russian jet.
Earlier in the day, the US claimed that it had not provided the MANPAD to the group which shot down the Russian plane.
On Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that the Su-25 fighter jet had been shot down in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.
Preliminary data showed the jet had been downed by a MANPAD. The pilot had parachuted down into the area controlled by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri outfit, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, but was killed during a confrontation with militants from an unspecified group.
Following the announcement, Russian military planes retaliated afterwards by targeting the Nusra-controlled area of Idlib and killing more than 30 terrorists.
Idlib fell to foreign-backed militants in 2015. The Syrian army, in cooperation with Russia, launched an anti-terror campaign in October 2017 to liberate the province.