Contents tagged with Syria

  • Putin ratifies agreement with Syria on the use of Tartus naval base

    On December 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified an agreement to expand the Russian Naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, as reported on Russia’s government website.

    The agreement is valid for 49 years and will be automatically extended for successive 25-year periods unless one of the parties informs the other party about its intention to terminate it no less than one year before the expiration of a period.

    The base in Tartus is being transferred to Russia at no cost. The Russians …

  • Media: Russian Khmeimim military base in Syria attacked with missiles

    Interfax news agency reported that two missiles approaching the Russian-operated Syrian airbase at Khmeimim were shot down by the Pantsir-S1 system. A third missile failed to reach the airbase at all.

    The AMN publication claims that two missiles were shot down in the province of Idlib, bordering Latakia. It says that Russian helicopters are patrolling the area from which rockets were allegedly fired.

    The Russian military operation in Syria began on September 30, 2015. The Russian Air Force …

  • Shoygu: Russia began forming permanent contingent in Syria’s Tartus and Hmeimim military bases

    Russia has begun establishing a permanent contingent in Syria’s Tartus and Hmeimim military bases, said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu during a conference call on Tuesday.

    “Last week, the supreme commander-in-chief [Putin] approved the structure and staff of the main bases in Tartus and Hmeimim. We have started establishing a permanent group there,” Shoygu stated.

    According to Shoygu, 59.5% of Russian troops in Syria are equipped with modern weapons and the combat readiness of all the …

  • Russian Parliament approves agreement with Syria on expansion of Tartus military base

    On December 21, the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma ratified the Russian-Syrian agreement on expanding the territory of the base of Russian forces in Tartus. The document was presented to the deputies by the Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia, Nikolai Pankov.

    Pankov explained that the agreement would allow for the expansion of the territory of the logistics center to 24 hectares.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a corresponding bill to the Russian …

  • Moscow: foreign customers lining up for Russian weapons after Syrian operation

    After an operation in Syria, foreign customers have been lining up to file orders for military products manufactured by the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC, the Russian Federation), company’s President Aleksey Rakhmanov stated during an interview on the Echo of Moscow radio station.

    “After the Syrian campaign we have a line of customers,” Rakhmanov said. “We’ve been able to demonstrate the efficiency of the weapon and people started to take it seriously,” the head of the military …

  • Media: US military captured the leader of the Islamic State

    The US military captured the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The leader of the terrorist group is at the US military base in Syria, reports the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak citing its sources.

    According to the source of the newspaper, al-Baghdadi was captured in Iraq, and then taken to the US base in the Syrian city of Ras al-Ayn. After that, the leader of the terrorist organization was transported to a military base near the city of Al-Hasakah.

    "The leader was captured …

  • Media: Parents of Russian who was taken prisoner by militants in Syria informed of his death

    The parents of Grigory Tsurkanu, who was allegedly taken prisoner by ISIS militants, told about the visit of members of the Wagner private army.

    According to Valentina Tsurkanu, the mother, an unknown man came to her on December 4 and told her that her son died from injuries, and the second prisoner, Roman Zabolotny, was killed by militants. The woman said that this person called himself a representative of the “organization,” as reported by the Dozhd TV channel. That’s what the soldiers of …

  • Pentagon blames Russia for dangerously close encounter between aircraft over Syria

    Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon spoke about the dangerous encounter between Russian and American planes in the air over Syria, RIA Novosti reports.

    He commented that Russian and US planes had come close to each other near the Syrian city of Abu Kamal, and had remained so for roughly 40 minutes.

    “At one point a Su-25 came quite close to an F-22, and it needed to maneuver intensely in order to avoid a collision in the air,” Pahon noted.

    The Pentagon spokesperson said that Russian planes fly …

  • Merkel: Russia wants to be 'a force that shapes international order'

    Russia wants to participate in the formation of international order, as evidenced by the events in Syria. This was the opinion expressed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a press conference in Berlin, as quoted by TASS.

    “We see Russia, which wants to be a force that shapes international order, and in fact is, if we look at Syria,” said Merkel.

    She also noted the strengthening of both Russia and China.

    Speaking about the European Union, Merkel said that the EU should play a “geopolitical …

  • Russian Defense Minister: Time of Russia’s withdrawal from Syria depends on situation

    Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said that the Russian military has already begun to return from Syria, RIA Novosti reports.

    The minister was not able to mention a specific date when all forces would be withdrawn. According to him, this will “depend on the situation”.

    Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Khmeimim airbase in Syria, where he gave the order to begin withdrawing Russian forces from their permanent stationing points in Syria. He also met with …