Russia comments on news of the S-500 test in Syria

"The S-500 was designed to handle ballistic and dynamic space targets at very long distances. There was no need for testing, especially the use of this anti-aircraft missile system in Syria," the ministry said.

He explained that "The air defense system that protects Russian military installations in Tartous and Hameimim has been deployed at several levels and altitudes, to provide reliable air cover, using the latest Russian systems of S-400, Panzer S, 2M missiles and the Su-35S fighters jets and this whole group can tackle various air targets at all altitudes and at all speeds."

"Testing the use of various Russian air defense systems in Syria is certainly taken into account when developing promising weapons systems, as well as individual units and subsystems. If necessary, individual elements of the systems can be tested in real combat conditions." He continued.

The newspaper "Izvestia" Russia on Wednesday quoted sources in the Ministry of Defense and the military industrial complex, that the Russian army in Syria conducted successful tests on the most important elements of the missile system "S-500" for air defense.

The S-500 can counter and destroy aerial targets within a 600-kilometer radius, and is capable of detecting and hitting up to 10 ballistic targets moving at speeds of up to seven kilometers per second, intercepting hyper-acoustic warheads.