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Who claimed the downing of a Russian jet in Syria?
Summary
A look back at the claims and the Russian response reported in the days before 5 February 2018.
Who said it had brought down a Russian jet over Syria, and how did Moscow respond? By 5 February 2018, two reports from 3 February had set out the competing accounts.
According to Sputnik, Tahrir al-Sham, allegedly including the Al-Nusra Front, claimed in a social media post that it had downed the Russian aircraft with a shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missile. The claim was attributed to the group and relayed through the Russian agency.
The second report concerned Russia's reaction. Interfax stated that Russia retaliated with a missile attack in North-West Syria, killing at least 30 Al-Nusra militants with what it described as precision-guided weapons.
What the reports show
Taken together, the two accounts describe a rapid sequence: a claim of responsibility by an armed group, followed by a reported Russian strike on that group's fighters. Both rested on a single agency's account each, and the casualty figure came from the Russian side.
The reports placed the episode within the wider Syrian Civil War, in which Russia was an active party. They did not give further detail on the aircraft or its crew.
