Israel says ballistic "objects" detected by Russia radars were part of US missile test programme

By Euronews

Published on 03/09/2013 - 11:16

Israel says two ballistic “objects” picked up by Russian radars earlier were part of missile tests it was carrying out in conjunction with the US.

Officials told Reuters they were testing an “anchor” target missile, which are used in defence systems.

The missiles fell into the Mediterranean Sea.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said the launch of the two ballistic “objects” was detected at 10:16 am Moscow time (08:16 CET) by an early warning radar station at Armavir, near the Black Sea, which is designed to detect missiles from Europe and Iran.

The Russian embassy in Syria said there was no sign of any explosions or attack in Damascus, while a spokesperson for the Israeli military reported that they were unaware of any missile launch.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had informed President Vladimir Putin of the launch. “The trajectory of these objects goes from the central part of the Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern part of the Mediterranean coast,” Interfax quoted the spokesman as saying.

A ministry official had earlier criticised the United States for deploying warships in the Mediterranean close to Syria.