Putin sends fighter jets to Iran but warns against striking civilians

Putin has strongly condemned Israel during the war in Gaza and has been particularly critical of civilian casualties.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Iran to use restraint in its retaliatory strike and to avoid killing civilians, although Russia also sent fighter jets to Tehran.

Sergei Shoigu, a senior ally of Putin, delivered the message Monday. Shoigu met with the new Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, to strengthen ties between the two countries.

They discussed Iran’s response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

The two also agreed to the transfer of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, air defense systems, and radar systems to Iran.

Iranian officials report that the shipments from Russia are already arriving.

Although Israel has some economic ties with Russia, Putin has been distancing himself from the Jewish State and has sought to strengthen ties with Iran since the October 7th Hamas invasion of Israel.

Putin has strongly condemned Israel during the war in Gaza and has been particularly critical of civilian casualties.

In June, the Russian President said, “What is happening now in Gaza in response to the well-known terrorist act in Israel does not look like a war, it is some kind of  total destruction of the civilian population.”

Many world leaders and media outlets accept at face value the unverified Hamas Health Ministry casualty number of approximately 36,000.

However, it appears that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing war has resulted in a similar number of Ukrainian civilian casualties, approximately 30,000.

In addition, The Associated Press released in June critical of Hamas’s claim that more than two-thirds of the Palestinian casualties in Gaza have been women and children.

According to the AP’s new analysis of Hamas’s figures, the terror group’s “detailed reports” of casualty statistics reveal a much lower number of likely civilian casualties than Hamas claims.

“Among those fully identified, the records show a steady decline in the overall proportion of women and children who have been killed: from 64% in late October, to 62% as of early January, to 57% by the end of March, to 54% by the end of April,” the report says. “Yet throughout the war, the ministry has claimed that roughly two-thirds of the dead were women and children.”

“This figure has been repeated by international organizations and many in the foreign media, including the AP,” the report adds.