Russia has asked Israel to avoid launching air attacks within its war on Lebanon’s Hezbollah near one of Moscow’s bases in Syria, a top official said.
Syrian state media in mid-October claimed that Israel had struck the port city of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad, who is supported by Russia and, in turn, backs Hezbollah.
Latakia and its airport are close to the town of Hmeimim, which hosts a Russian airbase.
“Israel actually carried out an air strike in the immediate vicinity of Hmeimim,” Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to Syria, told the RIA Novosti news agency.
“Our military has of course notified Israeli authorities that such acts that put Russian military lives in danger over there are unacceptable,” he added.
“That is why we hope that this incident in October will not be repeated.”
