MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. A US-led coalition’s F/A-18 fighter bomber dangerously approached a Russian plane in Syria, Oleg Ignasyuk, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria (a division of the Russian defense ministry), said.

"On August 17 morning, a coalitions’ F/A-18 fighter bomber dangerously approached an An-30 plane of the Russian aerospace forces making a planned flight over Syria. The incident took place at an altitude of around 6,700 meters over the al-Tanf area in the Homs governorate," he said, adding that the Russian pilot demonstrated high professionalism and took timely measures to prevent a collision.

He also said that three pairs of the coalition’s F-15 and a pair of Typhoon fighter jets, two pairs of F/A-18 fighter bombers and three pairs of A-10 Thunderbolt attack bombers violated Syria’s airspace in the al-Tanf area, across which international air routes run, 18 times during the day.

Apart from that, in his words, six violations of the deconfliction protocols of December 9, 2019 linked with the flights by the US-led coalition unmanned aerial vehicles were reported in Syria in the past 24 hours.