What Happened During Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian coast on Sept. 17, a Russian IL-20 surveillance plane with 15 crew members on board was accidentally shot down by a Syrian surface-to-air missile battery that was responding to the attack. Russia, however, has blamed Israel for the incident, alleging that Israel provided Russia with only one minute of advanced warning before the attack and that the Israeli aircraft deliberately used the IL-20 as cover during their approach, thus making it vulnerable to Syrian air defense counterfire. Moscow has stated that it reserves the right to respond to the incident. Israel has acknowledged it was behind the strike on Syrian bases, but it has laid the blame for the IL-20 incident squarely on the Syrians, stating that its aircraft were already back over Israeli airspace when the Russian aircraft was shot down.