At 22:59 Moscow time (20:00 GMT) on 17 September, however, this report notes, Russian military forces in Syria were notified by the Israelis that they were launching aircraft to attack an Iran-Hezbollah weapons depot near Damascus airport—but one of whose fighter aircraft, at 23:00 began firing its missiles at the Syrian port city of Latakia killing, at least, two people.
With the port city of Latakia being protected by a Syrian military operated S-200 surface-to-air anti aircraft missile system, this report details, it fired on what it believed to be was the Israeli warplane attacking them—and whose radar systems were, also, tracking incoming cruise missiles fired by a French navy frigate—but whose immediate threat target was the Israeli warplane it fired upon first—without their knowing that what they believed to be was this attacking Israeli warplane was, instead, an unarmed Russian military surveillance aircraft on its final approach to its Syrian base that the Israeli warplane was flying directly under of in order to hide its radar signature—and whose destruction of caused the needless death of 15 Russian servicemen. […]