OREANDA-NEWS Vladimir Putin called the Il-20 crash in Syria a tragic accident. The President asked not to compare the incident with the downed Turkish military fighter SU-24.

"Then the Turkish fighter deliberately shot down our plane. Here, rather, it looks like a chain of tragic random circumstances, because the Israeli plane did not shoot down ours," the head of state said.

Putin stressed that Russia will strengthen the security measures of its troops in the Arab Republic, and it "will notice everything."

The Russian leader expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims and stressed that their death was a "disaster" for the whole country.

The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu called Putin after the crash of the Il-20. Netanyahu expressed regret over the death of the Russian military and accused Damascus of the incident.

The defense Minister said that the f-16 IDF attacked the Arab Republic under the cover of a Russian aircraft, believing that the Syrian air defense forces will not open fire because of this.

He noted that Israeli fighters had struck, warning only a minute before the attack.

Shoigu stressed that the Il-20 was shot down "as a result of the response to the attack of Israeli aircraft Syrian air defense systems."

"I just found out about this incident. For me it looks like this, I think, based on the facts that Syria shot down a Russian plane," — said the American leader during a press conference in Washington with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

It is also noted that Israel mourns the plane crash and is ready to give Moscow all the information about the incident.

Russian Il-20, which was carrying 15 soldiers, was struck by a missile complex S-200 Syrian air defense on Monday evening, September 17. All crew members were killed.

Il-20 (NATO codification Coot) - aircraft electronic intelligence and electronic warfare, equipped with an IR scanner, optical sensors, radar side view. It is considered to be the first Soviet reconnaissance aircraft. Il-20 designed Ilyushin design Bureau on the basis of passenger aircraft Il-18D.

Il-20 proved themselves well during the fighting in Syria, coordinating the strikes of the Russian aerospace forces, including coordinating the flight of cruise missiles "Caliber".