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AFP
Moscow
Moscow on Monday announced new security measures to protect its military in Syria, including supplying the Syrian army with a new S-300 air defence system and jamming radars of nearby warplanes following the downing of a Russian plane last week.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that President Vladimir Putin ordered additional security measures after a Syrian Soviet-era S-200 missile shot down the Russian military plane by mistake, killing 15, in an incident last Monday that Moscow blames on Israel.
"This has pushed us to adopt adequate response measures directed at boosting the security of Russian troops"in Syria, Shoigu said in a televised statement.
"(Russia will) transfer the modern S-300 air defence system to the Syrian armed forces within two weeks."
Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad discussed the additional measures and delivery of the S-300 system on the phone Monday, the Kremlin said.
The Syrian military has already been trained to use the system, which was set to be sent over in 2013, but was held up"at the request of Israel,"Shoigu said.
"In regions near Syria over the Mediterranean Sea, there will be radio-electronic suppression of satellite navigation, on-board radar systems and communication systems of military aviation attacking objects on Syrian territory,"he said.
