Russia denies U.S. statement on Syrian terrorists using easily accessible technologies

MOSCOW, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry denied Tuesday a U.S. Defense Ministry statement that drones involved in a recent attempt to bomb Russian military facilities in Syria employed easily accessible technologies.

On Saturday, terrorists attempted to attack Russia's Hmeymim and Tartus military bases in Syria with 13 drones, which were captured or destroyed by Russian servicemen.

On Monday, the Russian defense ministry issued a statement saying that engineering solutions used by terrorists in the attack "could be obtained only from one of the countries that possess high technological capabilities."

However, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Adrian Rankin-Galloway said Monday the drones used in the attack were "readily available on the market," according to Russian official RIA Novosti news agency report.

"The pentagon statement does not only cause our concern, but it also raises legitimate interest, what technologies are involved, where this 'market' is located and which special services there trade space intelligence data," the Russian ministry said in its Tuesday's statement.

Moscow began military operations against terrorist groups in Syria at the request of Damascus in September 2015. With the support of the Russian air strikes, the Syrian government has retaken most of its territories previously seized by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

Given the victory on the ground, Russia began a partial withdrawal of its troops in Syria early last month under the order of President Vladimir Putin.

Russia said it will keep the Hmeymim and Tartus bases in case of the reemergence of terrorists. Enditem