BICOM

Russia will deploy its own personnel to operate the S-300 anti-aircraft missile defence system in Syria, according to Israeli media reports.

The report in Israel’s Kan radio news appeared after an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) delegation returned from Moscow yesterday after meetings with senior Russian military officers. They discussed ways to improve coordination between the two countries to prevent friction during operations in Syria.

Gili Cohen, Kan’s diplomatic correspondent, said senior US officials passed the information about the S-300’s to Israel in order to alleviate fears that Russia will allow Syria to either solely or jointly use the system and restrict Israel’s ability to strike Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria. Cohen claims that Israeli officials are divided over the significance of Russia’s intentions.

In October, Russia completed delivery of the S-300 system to Syria, a move they described as a response to a Russian reconnaissance aircraft being shot down by Syrian missiles. General Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, called the Russian decision a “needless escalation”. Israel had previously tried to persuade Moscow not to deliver the S-300 system to Syria.

Amos Yadlin, the head of the Institute for National Security Studies and former Head of IDF Intelligence, has said that if the S-300 is operated by Russia, then “that’s not new, with Russian S-400 [missile systems] operating in Syria for years, never launching against Israel or US aircraft.” He added that “if Syrian crews operate them, Israel will know how to hit it”.

Russian newspaper Kommersant reported this week that Russia is allowing Hezbollah and Shiite militias in Syria to fly Russian flags to protect them from Israeli air strikes. A Russian flag was spotted at the headquarters of Shiite troops near Hama airport, an area in which Iranian installations have been bombed in air strikes that were blamed on Israel. Russian flags were also spotted in Homs, Idlib and the Syrian Desert.