- Russian Defense Ministry
- The US Air Force denies the allegations, and said they were only in response to US accusations of Russian fighters flying unsafely.
- Russia did not provide additional examples of US fighters flying unsafely, and the US flight and call logs show no record of the F-22 and Su-35 incident ever happening.
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Air Force says Russia made up an incident over Syria between an F-22 and an Su-35 in response to a critical NYT story
Russia claimed on Saturday that an F-22 disrupted Su-25 bombing runs before it was chased away by an Su-35.
The Russian Defense Ministry accused the US on Saturday of interfering with Russian bombing runs on ISIS positions in Syria.
Russia described an alleged November 23 incident during which an F-22 Raptor maneuvered dangerously near two Su-25s before an Su-35 chased it away.
But the US Air Force denies the incident ever happened and says it likely came in response to a critical article in The New York Times.
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Konashenkov also accused the US of operating in Syria illegally, as the UN Security Council has never passed a resolution allowing the US to use force in Syria.
To back up his claim about US fighters flying unsafely, Konashenkov alleged that an F-22 Raptor crossed into Russian airspace on November 23 to disrupt two Su-25 bombing runs, before it was chased away by an Su-35.
"The F-22 launched decoy flares and used airbrakes while constantly maneuvering [near the Russian strike jets], imitating an air fight" before it was chased away, Konashenkov said.
But the US Air Force categorically denies the incident, saying in a statement that deconfliction phone line transcripts show Russia never called about the incident and that Coalition flight logs have no record of any US cross overs without informing Russia first.
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Russia, on the other hand, appears to have only brought up the alleged November 23 incident after the Times and CNN articles were published and didn't provide other examples of US fighters flying unsafely or disrupting Russian bombing runs.
The Russian Embassy in Washington DC and the Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to multiple calls and emails from Business Insider asking for more examples of US fighters flying unsafely and why Moscow never mentioned the alleged November 23 incident until after the Times and CNN articles were published.
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