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| US F-22 fires flares to ‘warn’ Russian jets in Syria – officials | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An F-22 fighter fired flares to warn Russian planes away from a “deconfliction line” in Syria, US military officials claim. | An F-22 fighter fired flares to warn Russian planes away from a “deconfliction line” in Syria, US military officials claim. |
| The incident took place Wednesday, when two Russian Su-25 close air support jets entered a “deconfliction area” east of the Euphrates river, a US military official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Two US F-22 fighters warned the Russian jets off, firing flares, the source added. | The incident took place Wednesday, when two Russian Su-25 close air support jets entered a “deconfliction area” east of the Euphrates river, a US military official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Two US F-22 fighters warned the Russian jets off, firing flares, the source added. |
| After the encounter, the Russian planes reportedly left the area. The incident also involved at least one Russian Su-35 fighter jet, CNN reported, citing an unidentified US military official. The incident was reportedly discussed by Russian and US military officials on an emergency hotline. | |
| Moscow and Washington agreed on a flight safety memorandum in Syria in 2015 and established a hotline to prevent emergency situations. Using this early-warning system, the militaries of the two countries discuss the approximate locations and missions of their planes to avoid them being in the same airspace at the same time. | |
| However, the two sides have repeatedly accused each other of disregarding the memorandum and being reluctant to use the tools at their disposal to prevent incidents. A similar incident between the Russian and US militaries was reported by Russia’s Defense Ministry last week. It said that a Russian Su-35 was forced to chase away a rogue US F-22 jet on November 23. | |
| “The F-22 launched decoy flares and used airbrakes while constantly maneuvering [near the Russian strike jets], imitating an air fight,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said last Saturday in a statement, accusing the US military of attempts to disrupt the anti-terrorist operation and preventing Russian planes from bombing Islamic State terrorists. |