Russia claims Syrian air defense systems intercepted 7 missiles during last Israeli airstrike
On the night of July 20, Russian missile defense systems Pantsir-S and BUK-M2 were used in Syria, but they failed to intercept all the missiles, reported the Russian "Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria" on the website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
According to the Russian military, half an hour before midnight, four F-16 fighter jrets of the Israeli Air Force entered the territory of Syria and launched 8 missiles on the Syrian Army targets and allies near the city of Aleppo, in the north-west of the country.
To intercept them, Assad's troops used anti-missile systems Pantsir-S and Buk-M2. However, they failed to intercept all of Israel's missiles. As a result, a certain "research center" in the city of Al-Safirah was destroyed.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Arab TV channel Al-Hadath, broadcasting from Dubai, reported that at night the Israeli Air Force struck at military facilities located in the Al-Safirah area. According to Al-Hadath, the strikes were also carried out on weapons depots belonging to pro-Iranian Shiite formations that are fighting on the side of the Syrian army. The Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen reported that a research center near Aleppo was attacked.
Pantsir-S1 is a 30-ton self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and artillery system manufactured in the Russian Federation. It can hit air targets at an altitude of up to 15 km. It uses 170- and 90-mm shells. Between 2008 and 2011, Moscow delivered at least 36 of these systems to Syria.
Buk-M2 is an air defense missile system. Russia supplied Assad's army with 18 of these air defense systems back in 2011.