Israel disavows claims of Russian origin of downed ‘Syrian spy drone’

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus confirmed that a drone downed by Israel over the Golan Heights on Saturday belonged to Syrian government forces, but disavowed claims that the aircraft was manufactured in Russia. “We have determined that it belonged to the Syrian regime. Earlier I said that this is a Russian-made UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle], but additional checks do not allow this to be asserted,” he told RIA Novosti. Conricus told Reuters that the downed drone was “a reconnaissance UAV and not an attack UAV and we are checking whether there is any connection to Iran and Hezbollah.” According to Israeli security officials, the drone operators deliberately attempted to fly the aircraft across the Israeli border, Channel 10 reported, as cited by the Times of Israel.