Report: Russian fighters intercepted Israeli jets over Syria

Russian Su-35 fighter jets reportedly scrambled to intercept Israeli fighters over Syria, block them from carrying out airstrikes.

Russian fighter jets were scrambled to intercept incoming Israeli fighter jets in Syrian airspace, preventing the Israeli planes from carrying out strikes on a key airbase used by Iranian forces in Syria, according to reports in Russian and Iranian media outlets.

According to the story, which was carried by a Russian aviation blog as well as Iran’s Tasnim outlet, earlier this month, the Russian air force scrambled a number of advanced Su-35 fighter jets from Khmeimim Air Base to intercept Israeli planes which were inbound heading towards the Tiyas Military Airbase, or T-4, Syria’s largest airbase.

The Russian fighters managed to intercept the Israeli jets, according to the reports, and forced them to break off their planned attack on T-4.

Israel did not comment on the reports.

The T-4 airbase, which is used by not only Syria but also Iran’s Quds Force as well as the Russian military, has been the target of Israeli attacks in the past, including strikes in February and April 2018.