- It's 60 Minutes Live.
A Russian airplane has been shot down in Syria. We're beginning with the breaking news. 15 crew members were killed. The tragedy was the result of Israel's horrible provocation. Last night, at about 11 PM Moscow time, four F-16 fighter jets attacked Syrian military facilities and simply used a landing Russian airplane as a shield. According to the Defence Ministry, we received their lousy warning just one minute before impact. The missile of the Syrian S-200 system that was aimed for the trespassers or their guided bomb unit hit our IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft.
- Putin has just expressed his condolences to the relatives of the dead crew members. The crash site of the IL-20 has been discovered by the Russian rescue team 20 km off the coast. 8 ships are taking part in the salvage operation. The airplane wreckage, bodies, and personal belongings of the Russian soldiers are being raised aboard the salvage vessel Seliger. Minister of Defence Shoigu called his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman and told him that Israel was fully responsible for the incident. Shoigu called the actions of the Israeli pilots "reckless." He said that Russia reserved the right to an appropriate response. We'll go to Syria and Israel after we hear the statement of the Defence Ministry.
Igor Konashenkov, Defence Ministry Spokesman: "On September 17 at about 10:00 PM, four F-16 of the Israeli Air Forces delivered a guided bomb attack against the Syrian facilities in the vicinity of Latakia. The target run was carried out at a low altitude from the Mediterranean Sea. The Israeli jets deliberately created a dangerous situation for the ships and aircraft located in that area. The Israeli pilots used the Russian aircraft as a shield against the Syrian missile defense. As a result, the IL-20 whose effective reflection surface is superior to F-16 was shot down by an S-200 anti-aircraft missile. The Israeli flight control facilities and F-16 pilots couldn't have missed the Russian aircraft as it was landing from the altitude of 5000 meters. Still, they deliberately executed this provocation. Israel didn't warn the Command of the Russian Forces in Syria about the upcoming operation. They received a call via a hotline less than one minute before the strike which denied them the opportunity to guide the Russian aircraft to a safe zone. We consider these provocative actions of Israel to be hostile. We do reserve the right to respond accordingly."
- Yep, hostile indeed. Evgeny Poddubny and Sergey Pashkov are with us live. Our military correspondent and our Israeli correspondent. Doesn't Israel have an "eye for an eye" practice? When a strike is delivered the source of the strike is neutralized. We'll discuss that later. Evgeny, the main thing is what is at the crash site now? How is the salvage operation going?
Evgeny Poddubny: Greetings, Evgeny. The salvage operation at the crash site continues. Eight service ships and boats are taking part in this operation. It's worth mentioning that the Russian specialists have already located the bodies of the crew and their personal belongings. They are continuing to load the wreckage of the IL-20 airplane aboard the salvage vessel. The salvage operation will be over when they recover as many pieces as they can. We know that the Seliger salvage vessel is coming from the Black Sea to the crash site. It's equipped with deep-water drones that can dive to the depth of 2500 meters. The Russian salvage team has all the means and forces to carry out a successful salvage operation. The airplane that was shot down was an IL-20 designed for electronic reconnaissance and electromagnetic warfare. Yesterday, it disappeared from our radars at approximately 10 PM when it was landing 35 km away from the Russian airbase Khmeimim. Right now, our crew is not far from the airbase. We discovered that the airplane was shot down by a Syrian S-200 missile. Four Israeli F-16 pilots were the ones who triggered the air defense systems causing the catastrophe.
According to our sources, the Syrian air defense systems were active for 40 minutes, shooting down the missiles that the Israeli military was firing at the territories of the Syrian provinces of Latakia, Tartus, and Hama. As a result, some of the bomb units the Israeli pilots launched were destroyed but other reached their target. According to the Syrian news agency Sana, eight civilians sustained injuries of various levels of severity during the Israeli bombing. It's worth noting that it's not the first and not even the tenth such attack on Syria executed by Israel. I remind you that Israel was acting at its own discretion without the approval of the UN Security Council. The Israeli aircraft usually…
- Let's stop here, Evgeny. Israel's actions in Syria hasn't been approved by the UN. Let's go to Israel now. Sergey Pashkov is with us live. Can you hear us, Sergey? Sergey Pashkov? We're trying to reestablish the connection. Our correspondent is working in Israel. In a couple of seconds, we'll... Oh, here you are, Sergey! Again, I quote: “The Defence Ministry reserves the right for a response. Israel has remained silent after the hostile provocation.” What's going on?
Sergey Pashkov, VGTRK military correspondent: Despite the acute military and political crisis and the tough statement of the Russian MD, Israel stays true to its principle to neither confirm nor deny the fact of the night attack on the targets on the territory of the Syrian Republic in the Latakia region that resulted in the death of the Russian soldiers. It's worth mentioning, that the Israeli Defence Ministry responded to the multiple journalist requests with a brief statement: "We don't comment on the information we receive from abroad." However, the Tel Aviv office of the Defence Ministry reported that the conversation between Avigdor Lieberman and Sergey Shoigu who have known each other for a long time and have met multiple times took place. However, they refused to disclose the content of the conversation. First and foremost, Israel must name a reason why the Russian military was warned just one minute before the airstrike, which was carried out by four F-16 fighter jets, as we've discovered.
The Israeli attacks on the Syrian territory are the secret everybody knows despite the fact that in the majority of cases the Israeli government doesn't comment on the delivered missile strikes. According to the experts' data, over the last two years, Israel delivered at least 200 such missile strikes against the targets located on the territory of the Syrian Republic. Over the last two months, these airstrikes took at least 113 lives. Sometimes, the Israeli press reports that the soldiers, killed by the airstrikes, are affiliated with the Iranian Armed Forces and the Lebanese grouping Hezbollah, nothing more than that. Right now, we're talking on the eve of Yom Kippur the Israeli religious holiday. In several hours, all Israeli state institutions and infrastructure will cease to work. Even the Ben Gurion International Airport will close for 24 hours.
- So we won't hear any official comments or apologies any time soon, right, Sergey? According to your words.
- I assume that there won't be any public statements any time soon.
- Thank you.
- An interesting position. Thank you very much. Evgeny Poddubny from Syria and Sergey Pashkov from Israel. Israel has taken an interesting position.
