Russia has begun its military intervention in Syria, deploying an aerial contingent to a permanent Syrian base, in order to launch attacks against ISIS and Islamist rebels; US stays silent.
Published: 08.31.15, 15:34 /
Russian fighter pilots are expected to begin arriving in Syria in the coming days,
and will fly their Russian air force fighter jets and attack helicopters against ISIS and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state.
According to Western diplomats, a Russian expeditionary force has already arrived in Syria and set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase.
The base is said to be in area surrounding Damascus, and will serve, for all intents and purposes, as a Russian forward operating base.
In the coming weeks thousands of Russian military personnel are set to touch down in Syria, including advisors, instructors, logistics personnel, technical personnel, members of the aerial protection division, and the pilots who will operate the aircraft.
Past reports have stated that the Russians were in talks to sell the Syrians a package of MiG-29 fighter jets, and Yak-130 trainer jets (which can also serve as attack aircraft.)
The current makeup of the expeditionary force is still unknown,
but there is no doubt that Russian pilots flying combat missions in Syrian skies will definitely change the existing dynamics in the Middle East.
Middle East
15:49 02.09.2015(updated 19:15 02.09.2015)
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Israeli news outlet Ynet, citing anonymous Western officials, reported that Russia was allegedly going to send MiG-29 and Yak-130 fighter jets to Syria to conduct airstrikes against ISIL militants.
The Israeli media claimed that the jets would be deployed to an air base controlled by the Syrian government forces.
"One should not believe these reports," Kremlin spokesman told reporters commenting on the issue.
A Syrian defense source also denied the reports concerning the alleged arrival of the Russian jets in Syria, al-Masdar reported.
In August, unconfirmed reports surfaced that six Russian MiG-31s landed in Syria as part of an arms deal allegedly signed in 2007. The supposed delivery, according to the Turkish BGN News agency, reflects Russia's intent to help Damascus counter the Islamic State. However, Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG CEO refuted the remors.
"We did not deploy [the MiG-31s] to Syria and we have no plans to operate them there," Korotkov asserted.
During the past days, Flightradar24.com has exposed several flights of a Russian Air Force (even though the registration shown by FR24 is Syrian – there has been a bit of confusion around this plane since if was first logged in Sept. 2014) Il-76 airlifter (caught by means of its Mode-S transponder) flying to and from Damascus using radio callsign “Manny 6”, most probably supporting the deployment of a Russian expeditionary force.
Three Syrian IL-76s have been very active within Syria over the past years so if the rest of the article is just as speculative as the information about the IL-76 flights... However, according to the Oryx blog Russian transmissions were intercepted so it might be possible that there are indeed Russian forces active in Syria.
I think this is the best assessment available about the Russion troops in Syria: some protecting Marine forces for the naval depot and airport, probably some heavy material plus advisors active. Apparently a drone. But no evidence of fighter aircraft.
AA deployment operated by regular Russian military troops as part of a larger deployment to Latakia AB (soon probably augmented by SU-25 and MiG-29 fighters) is certainly news.
And when this Russian operated AA system would shoot down a coalition bomber (either by accident or on purpose) it will have big consequences. Either way, this conflict is getting more complicated and nasty by the day...
Israel has supposedly destroyed previous shipments of advanced anti-air systems to Syria soon after its arrival. Probably with a different escort force they would refrain from doing it again... (?)
IF the claims about any Russian Forces in war-thorn Syria are true, does any of the report mention that it is with approval of the legitimate but challenged regime?
Hoera d'revolutie, 't is eindelijk zover', maar de nwe leiders blijken net zo autoritair
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