A stray Russia S-200 surface-to-air missile launched from Syria against Israeli jets crashed north of Nicosia early Monday with no casualties according to Turkish Cypriots officials.
A statements made by Ersin Tatar, the head of the ruling coalition in Turkish-held Cyprus, said the missile was confirmed to be an S-200 launched from Syria in response to Israeli bombardments.
The explosion occurred around 1am in the region of Vouno (Tashkent) some 20km northeast of Nicosia, which was felt and seen for miles around.
Vouno is a small village in the foothills of Pentadaktylos mountain range in northern Cyprus but the missile could have easily hit the densely populated capital of Nicosia.
Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci had linked the incident to military operations in the Middle East, but further investigations were underway by the military to establish what it was, he said.
“It is one of the bad sides of the war in the region falling into our country,” he told Turkish Cypriot Reporters.
Earlier in the day, head of Turkish Cypriot foreign affairs office Kudret Ozersay said that according to findings the assumed stray missile that crashed in Cyprus is the same as a missile that hit Turkey’s Gaziantepe in July 2018.
It was reported in Turkey at the time that the missile was fired against Israeli planes bombarding Syrian soil.
As later confirmed, the missile hitting north of Nicosia is a Russian S-200 – which has a 300 km range — used by the Syrian army.
Israeli warplanes had fired missiles targeting Syrian military positions in Homs and the outskirts of Damascus overnight in an attack that killed at least four civilians and wounded another 21.
This incident confirms that Cyprus has been caught in the crosshairs of military operations in the Middle East, despite its proximity to the region, for the first time.
Seconding Turkish Cypriot analysts and officials reports, Greek Cypriot military analyst Andreas Pentaras said the debris suggested it was a Russian-made S-200 missile.
“An assessment from the pictures made public shows the base of its wings. It has Russian writing on it, so it suggests it is Russian made. Syria uses Russian-made missiles,” Pentaras, a retired army general, told Sigma TV.
Jamming technology could have been used to divert the missile, he said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Turkish Cypriot coalition Ersin Tatar has called on people to keep their calm. “Let’s not exaggerate. Such accidents can happen”.
According to reports, some houses in the perimeter of the missile landing were temporarily evacuated.
