After Drones, U.S. F-16s 'Violate' Airspace during Russia-Syria Exercises: Kremlin

Russian claims U.S. F-16s intruded the airspace over Syrian skies closed due to the ongoing Russian-Syrian aviation exercises.

"Over the past 24 hours, four violations of the airspace of the Syrian Arab Republic by two pairs of F-16 fighter jets of the coalition were recorded in the Al-Tanf region," Oleg Gurinov, deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, said on Sunday.

Gurinov said there were 12 cases of violations by unmanned aerial vehicles of the so-called “international anti-terrorist coalition” on the same day, of which eight were in the area closed to air flights in connection with the joint drills.

Related news: Russia-Syria Perform Drills to 'Control Syrian Airspace' Amidst U.S. Drone Flights

He further alleged that in the first half of 2023, 1,602 violations of Syrian airspace were recorded by the U.S. coalition in the Et-Tanf region.

Earlier, the U.S. released a video footage claiming Russian Su-35 jets ‘harassed’ its MQ-9 Reaper drones over Syrian airspace. Moscow said it intercepted American drones for ‘violating’ airspace during the exercises.