An anticipated meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Vladimir Putin comes amid Russia’s deployment of advanced S-300 air defense systems to Syria’s military, which according to a Russian military source ‘were provided to Damascus free of charge.’ According to Russia’s state news agency TASS, the “three battalion’ sets of S-300PM systems” that consist of eight launchers each, “were previously deployed at one of the Russian aerospace forces’ regiments which now uses the S-400 Triumf systems.” The report further noted that the S-300 systems were delivered along with 100 surface-to-air guided missiles for each battalion. It is important to note that the S-300 system, which is considered to be one of the most advanced surface-to-air missile systems in the world, has a radius of some 200 kilometers – prompting a new challenge for the security of the Jewish state, as it would cover more than 140 kilometers of Israel’s airspace, if the Syrian military would deploy an S-300 battery near its capital, Damascus.
