Russia Test-Fired Tens of Strategic Weapons in Syria
The Arabic language Sham Time news website reported that since September 2015 that Russia joined war on terrorism at the official request of the Syrian government, over 160 advanced weapons of Russia have been tested in targeting terrorist centers.
Sham Times further added that Su-30SM, Su-34 fighter jets, Ka-52 helicopters, KALIBR and Mi-28N cruise missiles have been among the weapons used in Syria.
The Russian military said last week that the county’s warplanes conducted 71,000 airstrikes and killed at least 35,000 terrorists since the start of Russia’s anti-terror campaign in Syria.
“Since the start of the operation, Russian jets have conducted 17,800 sorties, launching 71,000 strikes on terrorists’ infrastructure, eliminating 725 training camps, 405 plants producing ammunition, 1,500 pieces of terrorists’ military equipment, 35,000 militants, including 204 field commanders,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
“In general, the operation [in Syria] allowed to solve a number of geopolitical problems: international terrorist organizations have been dealt a serious blow in Syria, their spread in the region has been stopped, the financial support of militant groups… has been disrupted, the collapse of the Syrian state has been prevented, while the chain of ‘color revolutions’ in the Middle East and Africa has been broken,” he added.
Russia began its air campaign against the terrorist groups in Syria on September 2015, at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. While killing thousands of militants, Moscow also suffered military losses.
On September 30, 2015 Russian bombers conducted their first strikes against terrorist targets in Syria, hitting ISIL positions near the cities of Homs and Hama.
By that time the US-led coalition had been already active in Syria for over a year. Yet Russia became the only state which received an official request from Bashar Assad to carry out air strikes in the country. The Russian fighter jets operated from the Humeimim air base located in Lattakia province.
During its mission, the Russian Air Force aided the Syrian army in liberating one of the country’s key cities and a world heritage site – Palmyra (Tadmur) in Homs province.
The ancient city had been under the control of ISIL since May 2015 before it was retaken by Syrian government forces backed by Russian air raids in March this year. However, ISIL kicked off a large-scale operation on December 8, 2016, with thousands of forces in Homs province to take control of Palmyra, and finally managed to capture the city on December 11.
On March 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of the majority of Russian warplanes and personnel from Syria, stressing that the major part of the operation in Syria was over.
“I believe that the objectives with which the Ministry of Defense has been tasked have been largely reached,” Putin said, adding that “Therefore, starting with tomo
