Jane’s 360:
In a second attempt to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Western allies’ strikes against Syrian targets on 14 April, the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) appeared to contradict its earlier account of the event, but supported its claims by displaying the remnants of cruise missiles.
Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy, the head of the General Staff’s Operational Directorate, told a briefing in Moscow on 25 April that the Russian assessment of the strikes showed that only 22 missiles hit their targets.
This was a lower figure than implied by MoD spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov in a 16 April briefing, during which he said that 71 of the 103 weapons launched by the allies had been shot down by Syrian air defences.
