Russia summons Israeli envoy over Damascus airport airstrikes

The Russian foreign ministry announced the summoning in a statement on Wednesday after Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met with Alexander Ben Zvi.

Serious concern was again expressed over the June 10 Zionist air force attack on the civilian airport of Damascus, the ministry said, Press TV reported.

The statement said the attack had damaged the runway, navigation equipment, and buildings, and disrupted international civilian air traffic.

"The ambassador was told that the justification received from the Israeli side regarding the strike ... was unconvincing and that Moscow expected additional clarification," the ministry added.

Reporting the airstrikes, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) cited a military source as saying that Zionist warplanes had fired several missiles from the direction of Syria’s Tel Aviv-occupied Golan Heights at some targets south of Damascus.

Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news conference that Russia strongly condemned the "Israeli" attack on Syria.

According to the Russia Today Arabic-language website, she said that these attacks are not acceptable to Russia, adding that Moscow wants the Israeli regime to stop these attacks.

The Zionist regime again targeted the areas around Damascus in the early hours of Wednesday morning, killing four Syrian soldiers and wounding three others, while the air raids were confronted by the Syrian air defense.

RHM/PR