The plane with some 200 passengers on board, managed to avoid two surface-to-air missiles, which subsequently exploded close to it.
“Syrian [officials] informed us that on Monday morning, unidentified forces launched two ground-to-air missiles which exploded in the air very close to a civilian aircraft belonging to a Russian airline,” the source told Interfax news agency.
The pilots managed to maneuver the plane in time however, “saving the lives of passengers,” it added.
It is believed the aircraft was intentionally targeted in the attempted strike, “but it remains unclear whether the attackers knew whether it was Russian or not,” the source noted.
The passenger plane was en route to Russia after departing from an unspecified resort city in Egypt at the time of the reported attack.