Putin’s Latest Message to Turkey Could ‘Spin Any Future Incident Beyond Control’

Russia has reportedly equipped its warplanes flying in Syria with air-to-air missiles for self-defense for the first time, Reuters reported on Monday, citing Russian news agencies.

The move comes one week after a Russian Su-34 fighter bomber was shot down by Turkish F-16 jets, in an incident that has heightened tensions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan.

The missiles, which are reportedly capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 37 miles, will supplement the state-of-the-art S-400 missile systems Russia says it has deployed to the Russian Hemeimeem air base near Latakia, Syria — about 30 miles south of the Turkish border.

The air-to-air missiles and the S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, if deployed, are evidently meant as a message: to deter Turkish jets from shooting down Russian planes in the future.

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“They are following through on Putin's orders from last week that all sorties will be escorted with air-to-air capable jets,” said Boris Zilberman, a Russia expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, DC-based think tank.

“The message remains as it was last week from Putin: We won't let it happen again,” Zilberman told Business Insider.

Zilberman added: “The egos of Putin and Erdogan may spin any future incident beyond control.”

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