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Russian top brass report their fighter jet, US drone making hazardous proximity over Syria

The Russian pilot demonstrated high professionalism and took timely measures to prevent a collision

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. A US drone and a Su-35 fighter jet of the Russian Aerospace Forces made a hazardous proximity over the Syrian governorate of Homs on Saturday morning, Major General Yury Popov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said at a briefing.

"Between 11:00 a.m. and 11:05 a.m. Moscow time (8:00 a.m. GMT - 8:05 a.m. GMT - TASS) on June 28, the coalition’s MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle dangerously approached a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 plane making a scheduled flight in the Syrian airspace," he said.

According to Popov, the Russian pilot demonstrated high professionalism and took timely measures to prevent a collision.

A pair of F-15s, a pair of Rafals and a pair of Typhoon fighter jets as well as a pair of A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft of the US-led coalition violated Syria’s airspace over the al-Tanf area, controlled by the United States, ten times over the past day, the general added.

In the past 24 hours, seven violations of the deconfliction protocols of December 9, 2019 related to the flights of the coalition’s unmanned aerial vehicles were reported in Syria.