MOSCOW – A Russian deputy foreign minister says expert estimatesdemonstrate that terrorists in Syria are employing Western-designed dronesto launch attacks against Russian facilities in the Arab country.

“We are constantly registering the mass usage of this method to stageattacks on Russian bases in Syria. Meanwhile, the drones that are beingused are not amateurish. Experts note … that Western specialists’developments are being used,” Sputnik quoted Oleg Syromolotov as saying onThursday.

The drones, equipped with Western technology, are not manufacturedmanually, he added.

The Russian diplomat made the comments during a speech he delivered at thesecond Countering Illicit Arms Trafficking in the Context of FightingInternational Terrorism held in capital Moscow.

Syromolotov’s remarks were made two days after Russian troops foiled adrone attack by foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants against the strategicHmeimim air base in Syria’s western coastal province of Latakia.

Syria’s state-run al-Ikhbariyah Syria television news network reported onTuesday that two terrorist drones had been spotted in the vicinity of thebase and destroyed at a safe distance before they could inflict any damageor casualties.