Russian Defense Ministry spokesman tells journalists to check Wikipedia before reporting, denies S-400s in Syria
Igor Konashenkov, the official spokesman for the Defense Ministry, has denied a report by the British newspaper Daily Mail about the supposed deployment of air defense S-400 missile systems in Syria.
"You've all had access for three days to [Russia's] airbase at Khmeimi. You've had the opportunity to see everything here with your own eyes—including the base's air defense equipment. The S-400, of course, isn't here, nor has it ever been here. This is simply disinformation," Konashenkov said at a Friday press briefing with foreign journalists touring the Khmeimi airbase in Syria.
Konashenkov said the Western media's reports that Russia has deployed the S-400 to Syria "are sincerely bewildering, if not outright laughable."
This week, Russian officials are granting tours of Moscow's airbase in Syria to journalists from leading foreign media outlets based in the UK, France, China, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Greece, and other countries. Konashenkov said the tours are intended to dispel false rumors about Russia's military intervention in Syria.
“Before you go frightening the British public and the rest of the world with stories about Russia deploying the S-400 in Syria, take a peek at Wikipedia or visit the Russian Defense Ministry's website, where this publication's editors would have discovered just how many elements make up this weapon system and what an enormous area is necessary for its deployment,” Konashenkov said.
- For more on leaks about Russian weapons systems, see: *The strange revelation of Russia’s newest nuclear weapon: National TV networks ‘accidentally’ leak a classified document about an underwater drone prototype*