Russian Federation Summons UK Over Shooting Down Claims

Russia called in Britain’s military attache in Moscow to explain claims RAF pilots had been given permission to shoot down Russian combat planes in the Middle East.

The attache repeated Britain’s concerns about Russian bombing in Syria, which London has said complicates the situation there, the Foreign Office spokesman said.

“The Russian intervention in Syria will engage them in a sectarian war”, the source said on Monday.

A trusted Forces TV source, meanwhile, also rubbished the claims.

United Kingdom defense sources stressed that RAF pilots have been told to avoid contact with Russian jets “at all costs”, but warned the pilots must be prepared to attack Russian jets “if their lives depend on it”.

One source said: “No one knows what the Russians will do next”.

US officials have expressed concern about the possibilities of accidental collision or other mishap in airspace that is now being used by Russian warplanes as well as those of the U.S.-led coalition. Yet the very raising of the issue provoked a hardline response from both the Russian Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry.

British Tornado GR4 fighter jets operating in Iraq were manufactured more than a quarter of a century ago, whereas the Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jets ensuring air escort for the assault groups in Syria entered service in the 21st century and are a step ahead of their British counterparts in every way, including inventory and radar range.

Moscow insists the military action is against IS targets.

Combat aircraft involved in Operation Shader over Iraq will be fitted with Asraam heat-seeking missiles, which can destroy any military aircraft flying today. “Whose morale are they meant to raise?”

He also reiterated that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must quit as part of a process agreed at a Syrian peace conference held in Geneva in June 2012.