Home › World › Sanctions and a downed Il-20 test Moscow
Sanctions and a downed Il-20 test Moscow
Summary
A look back at two developments that put Russia's military ties and its role in Syria under scrutiny in September 2018.
What did 20 September 2018 reveal about the costs of Russia's military entanglements abroad? Two separate stories, one about arms sales and one about a downed aircraft, pointed in the same direction.
Sanctions reach a Chinese buyer
On 20 September 2018, the United States State Department imposed sanctions on the Equipment Development Department, an agency within China's military. The reason given was its purchase of Sukhoi Su-35 fighters and S-400 missile system equipment through Rosoboronexport, Russia's main arms export agency.
The action fell under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, known as CAATSA. The law imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia and works by preventing U.S. companies from doing business with sanctioned entities. The Senate passed it on 27 July 2017 by 98 votes to 2, after the House approved it 419 to 3. President Donald Trump signed it on 2 August 2017, although he believed the legislation was seriously flawed.
The Il-20 loss
The same week, attention was on the Mediterranean. By 18 September 2018, news had emerged that a Russian Ilyushin Il-20 aircraft with fourteen people on board, missing since Monday over the Mediterranean Sea, had been shot down. Russia accused Israel of not giving enough warning before launching its attacks, which it said led Syria to shoot the plane down.
Later accounts of the incident put the number of crew killed at 15 and described the sequence in more detail. Israeli Air Force missile strikes on 17 September 2018 hit targets in government-controlled western Syria. Syrian air defences responded and accidentally hit the Russian aircraft. Russia accused the Israeli air force of hiding behind the Russian plane. The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged striking a Syrian weapons facility and expressed sorrow for the loss of life caused by Syrian fire.
The strikes came a few hours after a Russo-Turkish agreement to create a demilitarized zone around Idlib Governorate. That deal postponed an imminent offensive by Syria's forces and its allies.
Two threads
The two stories were distinct. One concerned Washington's use of sanctions against a third country's purchase of Russian weapons. The other concerned the loss of a Russian aircraft and a dispute with Israel over who was responsible. Both involved Russian military activity and the consequences it carried beyond Russia's borders.
