MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The delivery of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Syria has greatly improved its air defense, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee Vladimir Shamanov told Interfax on Friday.
"Without a doubt, the combat potential of Syria's air defense system as a whole has significantly increased with the delivery of S-300 systems," he said.
"From now on, no target that enters the range of these systems will escape unpunished," Shamanov said.
There have been Syrian media reports that the country's air defenses had intercepted targets near Damascus on Thursday evening.
The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported that it seemed that Israeli missiles had been shot down. The Israeli Armed Forces were probably targeting Iran-backed paramilitary groups in the south of Syria, according to the newspaper.
The Syrian state news agency SANA cited military sources as saying that the missiles had been launched by Israeli fighter jets from Lebanon's airspace.
All of these four Israeli missiles were intercepted, the sources said.