US Air Force commander blasts Russian 'buffoonery in the air' in Syria

Lt Gen Alexus Grynkewich says Russian warplanes have been displaying increasingly aggressive behaviour near US troops in Syria

In mid-March, a Russian fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea. EPA

A US Air Force commander has accused Russia of carrying out and rewarding “buffoonery in the air” over Syria and elsewhere – actions that are “distracting” American troops from their goal of fighting ISIS.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Lt Gen Alexus Grynkewich, Combined Forces Air Component Commander of US Central Command, South-West Asia, said Russian pilots operating in Syria have become more aggressive around American troops and have been frequently entering airspace that he said has long been recognised as belonging to the coalition.

“I see the Russian Air Force as being more aggressive in Syria, perhaps as a way to compensate for the fact that they have had to move capability and capacity out of Syria in order to support the war in Ukraine,” Lt Gen Grynkewich said on a press call.

“We've had instances as recently as just earlier this morning, Syria time, where a Russian aircraft came into our airspace. We had instances yesterday, and we had instances the day before.”

Lt Gen Grynkewich called the Russian manoeuvres a “big distraction” for the roughly 900 American troops stationed in bases and posts across north-eastern Syria.

“And it's frankly a distraction that the Russians ought to be concerned about because they are letting the ISIS threat grow right under their nose,” he added.

In mid-March, a Russian fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea. US and Russian officials gave conflicting accounts of the incident, with each side blaming the other.

The incident raised fears of a major escalation between the two nations.

Lt Gen Grynkewich said Russia's decision a week later to reward the pilot with medals could encourage more reckless behaviour.

“No pilot intentionally puts their aircraft in contact with another one, but that pilot hit the MQ-9 and it fell out of the sky,” he explained.

“As a reward for that unprofessional behaviour, which is absolutely egregious from an airmanship perspective, the pilot received medals.

“And so any time you have an air force that has fallen so low on the professional ladder, that they're giving metals for buffoonery in the air, you really got to wonder what they're thinking.”

In addition, the commander said that ISIS continues to have a “fair amount of freedom of action” in areas where Syrian troops and Russian forces should be putting pressure on them.

Lt Gen Grynkewich also addressed the illicit flow of drugs, mostly Captagon, from Syria into neighbouring countries.

The highly addictive drug has an estimated yearly value in the billions of dollars and was sold by ISIS to fund its self-declared caliphate. More recently, it has become a crucial source of funding for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

Last year, the US passed the Captagon Act in an effort to dismantle and disrupt the drug trade in Syria.

“This drug trade could spread more broadly across the region, and even beyond the region,” Lt Gen Grynkewich said. "It's something that we all ought to be focused on.”