Russia Expresses ‘Serious Concern’ to Israeli Ambassador Over Syria Airstrikes

(Reuters/Hamodia) — Russia expressed “serious concern” on Wednesday to Israel’s ambassador about airstrikes that shut down Syria’s Damascus International Airport last week, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Syria has been a staunch ally of Moscow since Russia launched a military campaign in 2015 that helped to turn the tide in a civil war in favor of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria halted flights to and from the airport until further notice following the Israeli strikes.

“Serious concern was again expressed over the June 10 Israeli air force attack on the civilian airport of Damascus, which damaged the runway, navigation equipment and buildings, and disrupted international civilian air traffic,” the ministry said after Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met Israeli Ambassador Alexander Ben Tzvi in Moscow.

“The ambassador was told that the justification received from the Israeli side regarding the strike … was unconvincing and that Moscow expected additional clarification.”

Following the 2015 Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war, Israel set up a “deconfliction mechanism” with Russia to prevent the two nations fromclashing inadvertently during Israeli strikes.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Over the years, Israel has repeatedly charged Iran with smuggling weapons and missile-improving systems from Tehran to its Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah using flights via Syria.

Large weapons are thought to be smuggled via Syria on Iranian cargo airlines, which frequently land at Damascus International and the Tiyas, or T-4, airbase, outside of the central Syrian city of Palmyra. The weaponry is then believed to be stored in warehouses in the area before being trucked to Lebanon, according to The Times of Israel.