MOSCOW. Dec 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Six Israeli F-16 fighter aircraft were involved in an attack on Syrian targets on Tuesday which posed a direct threat to two civilian airliners, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday.
"The Israeli Air Force's provocative actions on the evening of December 25, 2018, as six F-16 planes delivered an airstrike on Syrian territory from the airspace of neighboring Lebanon, posed a direct threat to two civilian aircraft," Konashenkov said.
The Israeli planes started their attack while the civilian airliners, which were not Russian, were approaching to land at the airports of Beirut (Lebanon) and Damascus (Syria), he said.
"To prevent a tragedy, the Syrian government forces' employment of air defense and electronic warfare systems was limited, which enabled air traffic controllers in Damascus to guide a passenger airliner out of the dangerous area to the reserve airfield at Hmeimim," Konashenkov said.