Russian fighter jets have come in close contact with U.S. predator drones over Syria on at least three separate occasions since Moscow began its controversial air strike campaign last week, according to two U.S. officials briefed on the matter.
“The first time it happened, we thought the Russians got lucky. Then it happened two more times,” one official told Fox News.
Both officials said the incidents took place over territories controlled by the Islamic State in Syria, including the terror group’s headquarters in Raqqa and along the Turkish-Syrian border near Korbani.
Another encounter occurred in the northwest, near the city of Aleppo.
The Russians have not attempted to shoot down any of the U.S. drones, but instead have flown intercept tracks, meaning they flew close enough to the U.S. aircraft to make their presence felt, one official told Fox.
This news comes as Russia has moved more heavy artillery from an airbase along the Mediterranean to another airbase outside Homs.
The build up provides further evidence that Russia is forming a “protective belt” around the Assad stronghold of Latakia and is carrying out air strikes against anti-Assad rebels, some backed by the CIA, to protect the embattled Syrian president’s regime and Russian interests.
The Pentagon insists that the majority of Russia’s air strikes have been against Syrian opposition forces and not Islamic Stat militants. One official said Moscow has not even carried out the number of strikes it claims to have launched.
“The Russians carried out only half or at best a quarter of the strikes they claim to have conducted,” a senior military official told Fox.
Meanwhile, tensions between Turkey and Russia are rising after Turkey claimed Russian jets on two separate occasions violated its airspace.
Turkey has called the action “unprofessional” and a “provocation” but two senior U.S. officials downplayed the incident.
“The Russians flew along the border and we still don’t know for sure what happened.”
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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