MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax) - It is highly likely that the Israeli Air Force delivered the air strike on the Syrian airbase on coordination with the U.S.-led coalition to 'test' the performance of Syrian and Russian communication and surveillance systems, Yevgeny Nikitenko, a professor of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) and an expert on military conflicts and geostrategic analysis, told Interfax on Monday.
"The Americans honestly say they did not fire missiles on the airbase in Syria. The information of the Russian Defense Ministry, which said the strike was carried out by the Israelis, does not mean that the United States has nothing to do with this incident. Washington was also interested in that strike, even though its Air Force was not involved. Israelis were pursuing their interests, but they also met the interests of the Anglo-Saxons," Nikitenko said.
The strike had two goals, Nikitenko said. "No doubt, they wanted to harm the Syrian military infrastructure. But there was another goal, too. They wanted to assess the response of Syrian air defense and Russian communication and target detection systems. The Anglo-Saxons and the Israelis will analyze the response and draw conclusions. A strike of this kind is a very good way of testing Russian systems, above others," he said.