US claims drone damaged by flares from Russian jet over Syria amid escalating tensions

A Russian jet fighter flew recently within a few meters of an occupying US spy drone over Syria and fired flares at it, striking the illegally flying American aircraft and damaging it, the US military has claimed amid multiple encounters between the rival military powers over Syrian air space in recent weeks.

“One of the Russian flares struck the US MQ-9, severely damaging its propeller,” Chief of US Air Force Central Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich claimed in a statement on Tuesday as quoted in an AP report. "We call upon the Russian forces in Syria to put an immediate end to this reckless, unprovoked, and unprofessional behavior.”

Grynkewich further claimed that the move on Sunday was an attempt by the Russians to knock the MQ-9 Reaper drone out of the sky and came just a week after a Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a US spying aircraft carrying a crew in the region, “jeopardizing the lives of the four American crew members.

This is while American military forces are operating in Syria illegally and the occupying forces are engaged in plundering the country’s oil resources and transporting them to their military bases in neighboring Iraq. The invading US forces are also maintaining a military presence in the Arab country while collaborating with groups of anti-Damascus militants and terrorist groups.

US-led coalition’s jets violated Syrian airspace several times in past day: Russia

Russia says the US-led military coalition fighter jets violated Syria’s airspace in the country’s strategic al-Tanf region several times during the past day.

According to the report, the Sunday incident marks the latest in a series of encounters between Russian fighter jets and American war planes flying over Syria. In one incident nearly a week ago a Russian Su-35 jet few close to a US MC-12 surveillance aircraft with a crew, forcing it to experience a strong turbulence.

US officials at the time described the encounter as a significant escalation in the persisting string of encounters between American and Russian aircraft that could have resulted in an accident or loss of life.

The development came less than two weeks after a senior Pentagon official was cited as saying that the US is considering military options to address “Russian aggression in the skies over Syria” while expressing rising fears about “growing ties between Iran, Russia and Syria across the Middle East.”

US mulling military options against Russia in Syria, irked by Iran ties

The United States is reportedly considering a military response to Russia’s presence in the skies over Syria.

“The Russian military activity, which has increased in frequency and aggression since March, stems from growing cooperation and coordination between Moscow, Tehran and the Syrian government to try to pressure the US to leave Syria,” said an American “senior defense official” who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters on July 14, the unnamed American official went on to further claim that “Russia is beholden to Iran for its support in the war in Ukraine, and Tehran wants the US out of Syria” to extend aid to Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement “and threaten Israel.”

“US has seen more cooperation, collaboration, planning and intelligence sharing, largely between mid-level Russian and Iranian Quds force leaders in Syria, to pressure the US to remove troops from Syria,” the official also claimed as cited in the report.

In early July, three Russian jets launched parachute flares at an American drone, forcing the aircraft to conduct “evasive maneuvers.” The incident was quickly followed by two others in the next two days.

Moscow said the US-led military coalition’s fighter jets had violated Syria’s airspace in the strategic al-Tanf region several times. 

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