A U.S. F-22 Raptor © Toby Melville / Reuters
On December 14, US military officials revealed that an encounter took place between Russian and US warplanes in the skies over Syria after two Russian Su-25 violated what the US calls a “deconfliction line” in the country.
According to them, the incident occurred on Wednesday “when the Russian jets strayed into airspace east of the Euphrates River, putting them on the wrong side of a “deconfliction zone” established between Moscow and Washington to avoid confrontation in the skies over Syria.”
Two F-22 fighter aircraft came close to the Russian jets and one of the F-22 fired flares to warn Russian planes away from the area. The Russian jets immediately left the area after the intercept, according to the story.
“Two F-22s went too close to two Russian jets so we had to use the de-confliction channels,” a US Central Command (CENTCOM) told Sputnik on Thursday. “This is not something extraordinary… It happens sometimes several times a day.”
However, the Russian Defense Ministry dismissed reports that the Russian jets were “intercepted.” It said that the F-22 got close to a pair of Su-25s and hampered them from escorting a humanitarian aid convoy.
According to the Russian ministry, the incident took place near the city of Mayadin. Following it, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet “rapidly approached” the F-22 from the rear and the US jet left the area.
Mayadin is located on the western bank of the Euphrates.
