Russia Threatens to Target US-Coalition Aircraft in Syria After F-18 Super Hornet Takes Down SU-22

Russian officials on Monday threatened to treat U.S.-led coalition planes in certain regions of Syria after an F-18 Super Hornet shown down a SU-22 Sunday. It was the first time a U.S. warplane shot down another country’s aircraft since a U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle shot down a Serbian MiG-29 over Kosovo in 1999.

Russia’s defense ministry said planes flying in Syria west of the Euphrates River would be treated as potential targets. They claimed it was a “deliberate failure to make good on its commitments” under the previous deal.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state-run news agencies that the U.S. was “helping the terrorists that the U.S. is fighting against.”

The U.S. said the action was it a necessary action. Special forces embedded with U.S.-backed opposition fighters said President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have been attacking their positions in the northern province of Raqqa.

They contacted Russia and warned that if the attacks didn’t cease, the U.S. would take action.