Israel Warns: Russia to Sell Anti-Air Missile System to Syria

On May 8, Israel warned the U.S. that Russia is prepared to sell “S-300 missile batteries to Syria.” Should that happen, Israel says it will “significantly boost the regime’s ability to stave off intervention in its civil war.”

Israel said the agreement for the sale was made in 2010 and that Syria has been making payments to buy “four [missile] batteries for $900 million” since that time. The deal allegedly includes “six launchers and 144 operational missiles, each with a range of 125 miles.”

The Russian Embassy in Washington would neither confirm nor deny the claim. Rather, it said “its policy is not to comment on arms sales or transfers between Russia and other countries.”

The U.S. knows Russia has been upgrading Syria’s existing surface-to-air missile systems since 2008, but the kind of weaponry Israel is warning about would advance Syrian capabilities by leaps and bounds.