Russian Air Force operating over Syria

[hammarö]

Russia has deployed more helicopters at Shayrat air base.

Earlier Russia hade 4 Mi-24 and a Mi-8/17 at base.

The 19 february 4 Mi-35 are also deployed at base.


It is also reports of Russian ground forces fighting IS

Russian media and

http://www.janes.com/article/58309/russ ... rce=Eloqua

[hammarö]

Russian mechanics prepare today to transfer combat aircraft from Hmeymim air base back to Russia.

Russia have declared today that they shall still use the Hmeymim air base and the Tarsus navy base.

Ground forces are also today start to transport the ground forces back to Russia by amphibious ships and large transport aircraft.

We may see a fast transport of the most forces back to Russia.

Maybee fighter and reconnaissance forces remain. Reconaissance forces shall be air sigint as well as naval sigint and ground OsNaz sigint remaining on Syrian ground.

[Koen L]

As part of the withdrawal a group of Su-34s has returned to Lipetsk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt5bMVxxKYc

[hammarö]

Su-34 03 and 22 plus one.

Together with a Tu-154.

Several sources say 8 Su-34 operated over Syrii from Krymsk since end of November. Maybee these aircraft still operate over Syrii with Krymsk as base?

[Kuine]

Yesterday 6 SU-25 (44, 53, 27, 25, 22, 24) RED and 4 Su-24M2 (81, 78, 79, 74) left the base in #Syra. 4 Su-34 left Tuesday.
14 planes so far.

https://youtu.be/5gkAoHgIuNM

[Kuine]

Mi 28 Havoc patrolling Russian airbase in Syria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srra3IKtEg8

Looks like Rus has just delivered Ka-52 in Syria. Personnel is assembling it after An-124 trip.
Clear picture of RuAF KA-52 Hokum (79) in Humaymim AB

[Kuine]

Russian Air Force unit was warmly welcomed after landing at a base in Krasnodar, Wednesday, after completing their mission in Syria.

Pilots were welcomed by a parade at the airbase and with bread and salt as part of a Russian tradition. A number of pilots were awarded with military honours for their five-month tour of duty in Syria.

The air wing left their base in Hmeymim on Wednesday morning and followed a group of SU-34 aircraft that landed at the Voronezh airbase on Tuesday.

Flight home of 4 SU 25's and IL 76.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSoEuf39ABI

Homecoming of SU 25's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B-LPXqabWQ

Homecoming of SU 24's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPHdjd93Qmw

[ehusmann]

Russian Ministry of Defense announced that a Mi-28N has crashed in Syria last night. Both crew died in the crash. It is claimed that the helicopter was not shot down.
Info from the Washington Post.

Erwin

[hammarö]

According info was a hospital yesterday barrel bombed with at least 15 casaulties, with one important children doctor.

Before this barrel bomb was the area surrounded the hospital heavenly air bombed several days. May bee together with russian and syrian artillery bombing. It is a common habit since september last year to bomb buildings like hospitals, with at least hundred in number.

Sources is every large news agency, one of them is doctors without borders.

[hammarö]

Now are the casaulties over 50

See not a target
https://lakareutangranser.se/

[Richard from Rotterdam]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36138594

Interesting analysis on partial withdrawal of Russian jets:

Russia's air wing in Syria has undoubtedly been scaled back.
Indeed, analysis of satellite imagery by IHS Janes shows one of the two runways at the Humaymim air base, near Latakia, appears to have been closed.
Janes suggests damage may have been caused by over-use and this "may have contributed to Russia's decision to withdraw some fixed-wing aircraft from Syria and deploy additional helicopters".

[hammarö]

Mi-28N and Ka-52 at Homs air base.

http://forums.airforce.ru/sovremennost/ ... rizis-112/

[hammarö]

Sat picture of Russian helicopters at Shayrat air base, Homs.

The picture shows 12 helicopters with at least 6 empty spaces
4 Mi-24/35, 1 Mi-8/17, 4 Ka-52, 3 Mi-28,

http://forums.airforce.ru/sovremennost/ ... rizis-111/

[Stratofreighter]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36368346

Syria conflict: IS 'destroyed helicopters' at T4 base

58 minutes ago

New satellite imagery appears to reveal extensive damage to a strategically significant airbase in central Syria used by Russian forces after an attack by so-called Islamic State (IS).

Four helicopters and 20 lorries were destroyed in a series of fires inside the T4 base last week, the images from intelligence company Stratfor suggest.

The cause of the fires is unconfirmed.

A pro-Kremlin website said the helicopters had been "used by both Russian and Syrian air forces".

Russia has not officially commented on the incident.


A Russian opposition website quoted Syrian sources as saying "a large fire in the Syrian part of the T4 airbase spread to the fleet of vehicles, and after a fuel tank exploded four Russian helicopters nearby went up in flames".

"The cause of the fire is being established," it added.

Regardless of what triggered the fire that destroyed four Russian attack helicopters at their central Syrian base, this is the most serious loss for the Russians so far in their engagement against IS.

When the Kremlin deployed forces to Syria last September it was initially cautious about getting drawn into a ground war,
wary of taking the mounting casualties that became a feature of its exhausting 10-year campaign in Afghanistan.

But after announcing a strategic withdrawal earlier this year Russia now seems to be getting ever more involved in supporting the forces of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

The destruction of so much Russian hardware at the T4 airbase, 40 miles (60km) from Palmyra, has revealed some of the extent of that involvement.

Palmyra is deep inside the Syrian desert, far from the coastal and border battlefields of north-west Syria, where the Russian air force has been most active.

The question now is whether Russia will react to this loss by replacing, increasing or scaling back its presence in Palmyra.


'Grad rockets'

Speculation that the fire was accidental was fuelled by the first report of the incident, which came from Amaq, a news agency linked to IS, says BBC Arabic's Syria correspondent Rami Ruhayem.

"Burning of four Russian attack helicopters and 20 trucks loaded with missiles inside T4 airport in eastern Homs [province] as a result of a nearby fire," the report said, without identifying the cause.

On the same day, IS released an image it said showed one of its fighters firing Grad rockets at T4, also known as Tiyas.

"What the imagery tells us is that first of all this was not an accidental explosion,
as some of the rumours kept saying," Stratfor military analyst Sim Tack said.

"It shows very clearly that there are several different sources of explosions across the airport,
and it shows that the Russians took a quite a bad hit.

An entire combat helicopter unit was wiped out - four helicopters in total -
as well as some damage to some of the Syrian planes on the airport,
and also very notably a logistic depot, likely one that was being used to supply those specific combat helicopters."

Mr Tack described Amaq's account as "very accurate", and suggested the helicopters and depot were destroyed by IS attacks.

He said it was unclear why IS had not officially said it had caused the destruction.

"In the past IS has claimed similar attacks, they have even videotaped the attacks themselves.

"In this case, we haven't seen any of those materials come out yet. One possibility is that by making the statement they were intending to claim it while not necessarily phrasing it that way."

Mr Tack said it "would really be a marginal, almost non-existent chance for this to be accidental".

Supply lines

In addition to the Russian losses, the area where it happened is strategically significant, Rami Ruhayem says.

...continues at
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36368346

[Stratofreighter]

...from the interesting
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee
account...



Source:
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee