One Year of Russian presence in Syria

29.09.2016

On September 30th, 2015 Moscow decided to send troops to help the government of Bashar al-Assad in the fight against terrorism.

Legal status

The Russian government began to consider the possibility of military intervention in the civil war in Syria,  in August 2015. Following a request by Bashar al-Assad and the adoption of appropriate laws in Russia, the Aviation Group was transferred to Syria, which performs most of the work of strikes against terrorists.

All the actions of the Russian troops are in accordance with international law.

The main Russian air group is based out of the the Hmeymim base. Also in Syria is the working point of logistics for the Russian Navy in Tartous port, and deployed here are the "Pantzir" air defense systems and the famous S-400. Besides aerospace forces in Syria are the navy, special forces, marines, air defense and engineering forces of Russia.

Results

During the year, Russia was able to perform a number of operational military missions, including destroying a large amount of equipment and manpower of the terrorists, partly eliminate their infrastructure, and  enabled the Syrian army to win a number of key positions. More than ten major operations were carried out. Strikes were not only conducted from within Syria but also from the waters of the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas.

New Russian weapons were tested in Syria.

In addition, this significantly increased Russia's status in the international arena as a responsible actor and a reliable partner.

Unfortunately, completely destroying the terrorists failed because of their support by the US and some countries in the region.

The anti-terrorist coalition involves Russia, Syria, Iraq and Iran. These countries are able to rapidly exchange data.

According to official data, Russian loss amounted to 20 people, 17 of them - in the performance of military duty, 3 - non-combat losses. An Su-24M aircraft  was shot down, as well as three helicopters - Mi-28N, Mi-35M and Mi-8 crashed. Also, and two drones have been lost.

The proxy war with the US

Russia's intervention in the Syrian conflict should be seen as a proxy war with the US. Washington uses an artificially created network of terrorist organizations Syria, some of which are called "moderate opposition". Depending on the status of the organizations, Washington provides them financial, material and military assistance, and logistical support and intelligence.

It should be noted that the fifth and sixth column in Russia (open pro-Western liberals and pseudo patriots) have tried in every way to prevent the entry of Russian forces into Syria under various pretexts. At the present time, they continue to engage in sabotage, if possible, and information war against Russia, its leadership and its people.