MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. The US-led international coalition’s drones were seen flying over an area of the Russian-Syrian drills five times during the past day in violation of flight safety rules, Oleg Gurinov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria (a division of the Russian defense ministry), said on Wednesday.
According to Gurinov, the Russian side once again expresses concern over the systemic violations of the deconfliction protocols linked with the flights of the coalition’s drones.
"During the day, twelve violations were reported, including five over an area that was closed for flights due to the joint Russian-Syrian drills in northern Syria. We remind that the Russian side bears no responsibility for the safety of flight of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which were not agreed with the Russian side," he said.
He also said that two shelling attacks on the positions of Syria’s government army were reported in the Idlib de-escalation zone during the day from the positions of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) in the Aleppo and Latakia governorates.
The joint Russian-Syrian air force and air defense force drills began in Syria on July 5. It is planned to drill joint actions by aviation, air defense forces and electronic warfare to repel air attacks.