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Moscow alarmed that US spy plane coordinated drone attack on Russia's Syria base Moscow alarmed that US spy plane coordinated drone attack on Russia's Syria base
(about 1 hour later)
The Kremlin has said it is concerned that a US spy plane was behind a drone attack on Russia's Khmeimim Airbase in Syria in January. A senior Russian military official has accused the US of being directly involved in a drone attack on the Russian airbase in Syria’s Khmeimim. The aircraft were controlled from a US spy plane nearby, he claimed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking about a report made by Russia’s Defense Ministry. It said that  the drone attack on the Russian airbase was directed from a US P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking about a report made by Russia’s Defense Ministry. It said that the drone attack on the Russian airbase was directed from a US P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane.
Calling the report "alarming" Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin may raise the issue with his US counterpart Donald Trump when he has an opportunity. The base located in Latakia governorate has been attacked by primitive drones on numerous occasions. According to Col. Gen. Aleksandr Fomin, Russia’s deputy defense minister, the attack on January 6 was done with direct help from the American military.
Speaking at a high-profile security forum in China, Fomin said a Boeing P-8 Poseidon was deployed in the area on that date, when 13 drones were launched to attack the Russian base. The US reconnaissance plane took control of the drones once the troops defending the base used electronic warfare to disrupt the control signals for the UAVs.
READ MORE: US spy plane circled between Russian airbase & port facility during Syria drone attack – MoDREAD MORE: US spy plane circled between Russian airbase & port facility during Syria drone attack – MoD
The Kremlin's response comes after reportes suggested that deputy defense minister Colonel General Alexander Fomin talked about this drone attack during the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, a high-profile conference on defense and security. “They were controlled manually, and not by some peasant, but from a capable, well-equipped Poseidon plane,” the Russian general said. He added that the drones were regrouped and directed to suspected zones of vulnerability in the defenses of the Russian base, most likely with the use of satellite data, before being destroyed by the Russian air defense forces.
He claimed that 13 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) had approached Russia’s Khmeimim base at the same time when the Poseidon spy aircaft was flying over the Mediterranean. Met with Russian electronic countermeasures the drones switched to manual control mode from the spy plane, he said.  “If people don’t want to fight terrorists armed with advanced weapons, they should stop arming them,” the general added. Fomin was speaking at the plenary session of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on Thursday.
Someone, he said, “guided the UAVs to the so-called holes [in Russian defenses],” which they utilized before being downed by Khmeimim’s surface-to-air missiles. The Russian Defense Ministry has been alluding to the possibility that the drone attacks on Russian military sites in Syria were being enabled by a technologically advanced party since facing this problem in early 2018, but previously avoided accusing the United States directly.
The incident occurred overnight on January 8, involving 10 UAVs targeting Khmeimim itself. Three more drones attempted a strike on the Russian naval facility at the Syrian port city of Tartus. All 13 craft were then engaged by the Pantsir-S1 air-defense system.  READ MORE: Drones are new serious terrorist threat in Syria – Russian defense minister
READ MORE: Drones are new serious terrorist threat in Syria – Russian defense minister Fomin’s remarks were endorsed later in the day by the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry. “We can only confirm this. We received this absolutely credible information from our military specialists. We have repeatedly voiced our concerns about this,” Maria Zakharova said.
Three enemy drones, overridden by the Russian electronic warfare team, landed intact outside Khmeimim and were later inspected by the military. It was the first time that Syrian militants had used remote-controlled top-notch weaponry in the war. The Defense Ministry said the drones had been acquired “only from a country possessing state-of-the-art technologies.” Dmitry Peskov called this data “very alarming,” but referred journalists to the Russian military for further comment.
The Pentagon tried to rebut the Russian allegations at the time, with spokesman Adrian Rankin-Galloway claiming “those devices and technologies can easily be obtained in the open market.” The Pentagon insists that drones used to attack Russian troops in Syria can easily be built from parts available on the open market.
The January attack was not the only one of its kind. Russian air defenses at Khmeimim have dealt with intruder UAVs on numerous occasions throughout this summer. No drone managed to get close to the facility.
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