Two Russian soldiers were killed during a mortar attack on the Khmeimim base. Defeat of the "Islamic State" in Syria (5) Defeat of the Russian airbase in Syria

The Motherland meets its soldiers. Photo from the official website of the Russian Ministry of Defense

After receiving the order from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to withdraw troops on December 11, the Russian Ministry of Defense carried out a significant reduction in the Russian military group in Syria in short time. Immediately, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers were sent from the Aerospace Forces airbase in Mozdok to permanent deployment points in various regions countries. As previously stated by the Kremlin, the Russian military completed the anti-terrorist operation before the end of 2017.

Events in Syria in the first half of December developed rapidly; on December 3, the General Staff reported that as a result of joint military operations (planned by the headquarters of the Russian group of troops in Syria) the militia of the eastern tribes (under the command of Russian military advisers) and the Russian Aerospace Forces from IS formations, the border areas were completely cleared areas of Syria on the left bank of the Euphrates.

This message came as a complete surprise to many, since it was believed that the attack on the left bank was being carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by a coalition led by the United States. Just three days later, President Vladimir Putin, citing the report Russian minister defense, said that the “Islamic State” (IS, banned in Russia) was defeated on both banks of the Euphrates. He also said: “Naturally, there may still be isolated pockets of resistance, but in general the combat work at this stage and in this territory is completed.” Later that day, during a briefing organized by the Russian military department, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Army General Valery Gerasimov, confirmed the news of the victory in Syria. He clarified that the troops of General Suhel and the 5th Volunteer Assault Corps liberated the settlements of Salihia, El-Khreita, El-Katiya, Musalakha in the province of Deir ez-Zor and joined forces with government troops advancing from the south. “Thus, today there is no territory controlled by IS in Syria,” concluded Valery Gerasimov. Before this, for a whole decade, long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces bombed jihadist positions almost every day.

Russia entered the war in September 2015 against the Islamic State and other formations opposed to Damascus, recognized as terrorist. At that time, Bashar al-Assad controlled less than 15% of the country’s territory, and government troops suffered one defeat after another and were on the verge of defeat. Thanks to Moscow’s military intervention in the Syrian war, the balance of power has changed radically within two years.

On the third day after President Putin announced victory over ISIS in Syria, Baghdad announced the complete victory of its troops over the pseudo-caliphate in Iraq. Following these two statements, Washington and Paris voiced harsh criticism of Moscow. The Pentagon claims that IS formations are still fighting in Syria and Russia was hasty in declaring its victory. Moreover, the Americans dispute the laurels of the winner and consider the defeat of the Islamic State purely to their own merit; French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed support for this opinion. In defiance of Washington and Paris, Russia made a statement that the border western regions of Iraq are still controlled by the Islamic State. The Russian Ministry of Defense criticized Washington, accusing the latter of slander and complicity with the Islamic State. But despite this post-victory harsh verbal sparring between the military departments of the Russian Federation and the United States, the fact remains: the IS combat formations in Syria and Iraq have been defeated. In general, both sides contributed to this victory.

The reduction of the Russian military force in Syria began, in fact, even before the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Already on December 10, the media reported that the Russian military hospital was being closed down to send him home. But the process accelerated significantly after Vladimir Putin issued an order to withdraw troops at the Khmeimiya air force base on December 11. To which the representative of the US Department of Defense, Major Adrian Rankin-Galloway, said: “Russian statements about troop withdrawals do not often correspond to actual reductions in their numbers, these statements will not have an impact on US priorities in Syria.” But on the same day it became known that some of the planes were leaving home within a few hours, and on December 12, the intensity of the withdrawal of troops was already increasing like an avalanche. The press service of the Russian Defense Ministry inundated the media with reports about the arrival of Su-34 front-line bombers from Syria at the airfield in the Khabarovsk Territory, and MiG-29SMT fighters in the Astrakhan region. At the same time, the withdrawal of the long-range aviation strike group from Mozdok (the closest air force base of the Aerospace Forces in Russia) to Syria began, consisting of Tu-22M3 missile-carrying bombers. They were also sent to their place of permanent deployment in the Kaluga, Irkutsk and Murmansk regions. Such a step is possible only under one condition: these forces are not needed to provide military support to Damascus and Moscow does not foresee sudden uprisings by jihadists in Syria, which means that the Kremlin has reached some firm agreements with those who have a stake in the Syrian opposition powerful influence. It is believed that such a guarantor on the part of opponents of Bashar al-Assad, who has a strong influence on the Syrian Bedouin tribes, is Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Al Malik (the current monarch ruling in Saudi Arabia).

The Kommersant newspaper, citing its unnamed “military-diplomatic sources,” reported that “as a result of a mortar attack on December 31 at the Russian Khmeimim airbase in Syria, seven aircraft were destroyed.”
According to the publication, militants fired at the base and actually destroyed four Su-24 bombers, two Su-35S fighters and an An-72 transport aircraft. An ammunition depot was also blown up. It is reported that more than ten military personnel were injured as a result. It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Defense, which has had its fill of water since the New Year until now, only now, after the scandal that had already accumulated on the Internet, began to somehow comment on the events, partially confirming something, but generally denying the loss of combat aircraft.
On the page of the Russian military correspondent Roman Saponkov, who is in Syria, it is reported that “the shelling took place on the night of December 31, when Assadist militants throughout Latakia, celebrating the New Year, fired into the air with everything they could and there was such a roar that no one noticed how a sudden shelling of the Khmeimim base occurred. The explosions of falling shells disabled several aircraft and injured about 10 people. In the morning everything was kept top secret.”
On January 3, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on December 31, a Mi-24 helicopter crashed while flying to Hama airfield in Syria. Both pilots were killed. According to the Ministry of Defense, which has not been confirmed but also not refuted by independent sources, the helicopter was not fired upon, but fell due to a “technical malfunction.”

The Russian Khmeimim airbase is periodically subject to shelling. Thus, on December 28, the Al-Masdar news publication reported that “the Russian anti-aircraft missile and gun complex (ZRPK) Pantsir-S1 successfully intercepted and destroyed two missiles fired by terrorists at the Khmeimim airbase.”
It was reported that the missiles were launched from a distance of about 50 km, flew at an altitude of 4-5 kilometers and were intercepted and destroyed by the crew of the Pantsir-S1 air defense system. It was noted that “the work of Russian complexes for covering troops and military installations from air attack weapons was complicated by the terrain”:
“There is a mountain range along the missiles’ path, which reduces the target detection range... But our military, despite the difficulties of a geographical and tactical nature, managed to cope with the task and show that Khmeimim is covered by a reliable Pantsir.”
If reports of a mortar attack on the Khmeimim air base are true, then we can conclude that the rocket attack in late December was some kind of reconnaissance in force. Having made sure that the air base was sufficiently covered from the air, the militants launched a strike with ground artillery, approaching the air base at a distance of about 5 km.
The telegram channel Directorate 4, specializing in military information, reported that “on December 27, the group “Second Coastal Brigade of the FSA” (FSA - Free Syrian Army, part of the American coalition-VP) reported shelling of the base. They illustrated this with a photograph of a shell with the inscription “Sochi is yours, and Hama is ours.”
The picture posted online shows a 120-mm mortar shell, which most likely fired at the Khmeimim airbase. Since a 120-mm mortar weighs about 200 kg, and the projectile itself weighs 15-20 kg, it must be assumed that the traditional Syrian scheme was used, when heavy mortars are transported on pickup trucks or trucks.
However, to cover seven aircraft and an ammunition depot, a massive shelling by forces of at least a mortar battalion (eight 120-mm mortars), the use of Grad-type multiple launch rocket systems, towed Chinese Type-63 MLRS or American-made TOW-2 anti-tank systems is needed .
It is impossible not to take into account that at present, fast and accurate shooting from a mortar has become available even to poorly trained militants thanks to the American company Raytheon and a number of private companies software military purposes, which can be downloaded even on Cell phones. Freely available ballistics calculators for smartphones are already being used by militants in Syria.
It is possible that the shelling was actually carried out small forces militants, but a shell that hit an ammunition depot caused a detonation, and scattered fragments disabled Russian combat aircraft parked in the open air. It should be noted that even fragments of a single shell can disable aircraft standing openly at the airfield. If the planes were located in fortified caponiers, or at least fenced with earthen parapets, then the option of simultaneously incapacitating a third of the air group available in Syria would be impossible even theoretically.
In fact, the tragedy of June 1941 was repeated in miniature, when hundreds of Soviet combat aircraft standing openly near the border were destroyed by a sudden Luftwaffe raid.
Thus, on New Year’s Eve in Syria there was another “stab in the back” by the Russian military, no less tragic than the shooting down of a Russian Su-24 bomber by a Turkish fighter and a number of other incidents. These emergencies have one reason - the supremacy of political priorities over military ones and the incomprehensible carelessness of the military leadership, obvious even to first-year cadets.
An informed telegram channel writes that “attempts to withdraw the Syrian contingent, the last of which ensured the success of this attack, were lobbied by the leaders of the AP. As with the series of troop withdrawals from Chechnya in 1995-96, the president was promised each time that this would be well received by voters.”
As a result, premature statements by Russian leaders about allegedly already achieving a crushing victory over the jihadists in Once again were refuted, as they say, on the battlefield, and once again caused serious damage to the reputation of the country's leadership.
One of the reasons for the unpunished attack on the air base is the lack of an effective Russian intelligence network among the local population of Syria and the lack, it appears, of support for our military from the natives. The militants could not approach the air base without being noticed by residents of the settlements surrounding the base. They saw it and remained silent, although it was enough to simply call a familiar Russian sergeant on his mobile phone, generously sharing stewed meat with starving peasants. So it doesn't share.
You don’t have to be Nostradamus to predict that if the strategy and tactics (if any) of our military in Syria do not change, then new “stabs in the back” will not be long in coming.
Of course, the final conclusion about the reliability of reports of losses of both personnel and military equipment at the Khmeimim base can be made only later, by comparing official reports of the Ministry of Defense, which is forced to comment on media reports, with publications of space photography data by Western media.
Vladimir Prokhvatilov, President of the Academy of Real Politics (Realpolitik), expert of the Academy of Military Sciences

The Russian air base in Syria, Khmeimim, was attacked on New Year's Eve. This is stated in a Russian message. “On December 31, 2017, with the onset of darkness, the Khmeimim airfield came under sudden mortar fire from a mobile sabotage group of militants. As a result of the shelling, two servicemen were killed,” the ministry said, quoting.

At the same time, the department denied information that had previously appeared in the media about material damage during the attack. “The Kommersant report about the alleged “actual destruction” of seven Russian military aircraft at the Khmeimim airbase is a fake.

The Russian air group in Syria is combat ready and continues to carry out all its intended tasks in full,” the Ministry of Defense emphasized.

Earlier, the Kommersant publication, citing military and diplomatic sources, reported that on the eve of the New Year - December 31, 2017 - the Russian Khmeimim airbase, located in the Latakia province in western Syria, came under mortar fire from radical Islamists. As a result of the attack, at least seven aircraft were destroyed: four Su-24 front-line bombers, two Su-35S multi-role fighters and an An-72 military transport aircraft, the publication wrote. More than ten servicemen could have been injured. An ammunition depot was also allegedly destroyed, detonating after being hit by a mortar shell.

The day before this attack, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported 11 cases of violation of the cessation of hostilities in the Syrian de-escalation zones, reported RT. According to specialists from the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, within 24 hours, shootings were reported in the provinces of Latakia and Aleppo.

The general situation in the Syrian conflict de-escalation zones is assessed by the parties as stable. The shooting by militants (prohibited in the Russian Federation) was indiscriminate, noted the information department of the Russian military department.

At the same time, the Russian Defense Minister announced that Russia had begun to form a permanent group at military bases in Khmeimim and Tartus, reports FAN .

On December 28, Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft systems in service Russian army, repelled a sudden terrorist missile attack on Khmeimim.

The militants were allegedly located in Idlib province in northwestern Syria. Rockets were fired from the area settlement Bdama - three missiles immediately went towards the airfield of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

One of them fell and exploded before reaching Khmeimim, near the city of Jabla. Two other missiles were shot down by the Russian Pantsir-S1 air defense missile system on approach to the air base. According to the Directorate 4 telegram channel, which covers wars in the Middle East, the shelling was carried out by militants from one of the so-called “” gangs.

Immediately after the attack, Russian helicopters were scrambled into the air and began patrolling the area from which the missiles were launched.

First Deputy Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee Franz said that the militant attack on the Russian airbase on December 28 was impossible without the participation of the United States.

“I am absolutely convinced that the attack by militants Russian base in Syria was impossible without the participation of the United States - and in in this case it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about their direct participation or, so to speak, benevolent neutrality,” the senator wrote on Facebook.

According to him, there are no militants in the territory controlled by government forces, and since the US coalition announced their defeat, there are “basically no militants” on Syrian territory.

“It’s just that the United States, as is their custom, unfortunately, is telling lies. I am not claiming that the attack on the Russian Khmeimim base was carried out directly by militants from American military bases in Syria. This would be, in modern terms, too scary. At the same time, it is very likely that we're talking about about militants trained and armed by the American side,” Klintsevich added.

Of course, traditionally there were no Russian troops in the battle in the Syrian Deir ez-Zor area. And if there were, then now they are definitely not there. This time, according to various estimates, from 200 to 600 Russian militants finally “got lost” in the Syrian desert near oil fields.

“The coalition maintained communications with the Russian side before, during and after the attack,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said.

According to information distributed online, the 200th Ichtamnet is a private military company of Wagner. Putin's personal army. These are Russian career military men who hand over their documents and go to fight wherever the hand of the Kremlin points.

“The Wagnerites” have repeatedly “toured” in Ukraine and now in Syria. However, for several “artists” this “tour” was the last.

Putin's mercenaries ran into the US contingent. They warned the Russians that they had recorded their movements. And in response they heard the traditional “it will get better.” Then the “big” caliber started working. In the first minutes, high-precision "Hymars" destroyed Russian artillery and equipment, after which for several hours the Americans mowed down everything they saw through the thermal imager.

Watch the video of the airstrike on the Syrian military and mercenaries of the Wagner PPK

An important detail - the States did not use infantry at all to destroy actually two battalion tactical groups. Only high-precision destructive weapons.

This is definitely new! This clearly demonstrated the powerful strength of the state that used these modern weapons and those modern capabilities, which today are provided to him by commercial and government agencies,
– noted military expert Igor Koziy.

After such a defeat, the Russian side’s statements about their ultra-modern army, 5th generation technology and encroachment on space wars sound, at least, ridiculous. And the main horror story in the form of nuclear weapons is gradually losing relevance.

If Russian Federation says about the 5th generation, then this will already be a tenth generation weapon. It will allow today only at the beginning, at the stage of setting tasks for a missile system that carries nuclear weapons, including strategic ones, to begin calculating destruction,
– Koziy commented.

Myths about an invincible army are gradually melting away. Confirmation back - cargo 200, which regularly goes to Rostov and Narofominsk from the steppes of Donbass and the deserts of Syria.

What is PMC "Wagner"? The Wagner Private Military Company is a Russian illegal private military structure. She took part in hostilities in Donbass and Syria on the side of Russia. The company's fighters were repeatedly awarded state awards on personal unpublished orders of the President of Russia.

The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Khmeimim base in Syria came under mortar fire before the New Year. The saboteurs attacked from the direction of the de-escalation zone, and the air defense system was unable to protect the military. After the attack, security at the base will be strengthened

Russian Su-24 aircraft at Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Archive

Mortar attack

​On Thursday, January 4, the Ministry of Defense reported the death of two Russian servicemen during shelling of the Khmeimim military base near New Year. “On December 31, 2017, with the onset of darkness, the Khmeimim airfield came under sudden mortar fire from a mobile sabotage group of militants. As a result of the shelling, two servicemen were killed,” the ministry said (quoted by TASS).

Kommersant was the first to report the attack on the Khmeimim base on Wednesday, January 3, citing its own military and diplomatic sources. According to the publication, as a result of the attack by radical Islamists, the Russian military lost four Su-24 bombers, two Su-35S fighters and an An-72 transport aircraft. As a result of being hit by a mortar shell, the ammunition depot was also blown up, the publication's interlocutors added. Kommersant’s sources also said that more than ten military personnel could have been injured due to the attack on the base.​

The next day, the Ministry of Defense called Kommersant’s report about the “actual destruction” of seven Russian military aircraft at the Khmeimim air base “fake.” “The Russian air group in Syria is combat ready and continues to carry out all its intended tasks in full,” the defense department said in a statement. Until January 4, the Ministry of Defense did not comment on this attack by militants and only on the crash of a Mi-24 helicopter on December 31. According to official data, it crashed due to a technical malfunction during the flight from the Khmeimim airbase to another Syrian area.

After the publication of Kommersant, the research group Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) noted in the Telegram channel that not a single group has claimed responsibility for what happened over the past few days. CIT added that no local residents published videos or photos of the results of the shelling of the Russian base, although so far “photos of the consequences of incidents near the Khmeimim airbase quickly appeared on social networks.”

An RBC source in the Ministry of Defense said that one helicopter and an SU-24 were damaged during the attack. “The shelling was carried out from MLRS [multiple launch rocket systems] from the side of the de-escalation zone, mortars were fired from the zone under the protection of the Syrians. Two of the dead were helicopter pilots,” a RBC source in the Ministry of Defense clarified.

According to him, the duty around the base was organized “as expected.” “The rockets were knocked down, but the mortar shots were almost impossible to shoot down. [The consequence of the attack will be] complete clearing and expansion of the [protected] zone [around the base]. When someone shoots you in the back, you’re not always ready for it,” the source noted.

Su-24 at Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Archive (Photo: Maxim Blinov / RIA Novosti)

De-escalation zone

The de-escalation zone or neutral zone refers to the territory that includes the province of Idlib, parts of the provinces of Latakia and Hama. It was created within the framework of the ceasefire established with the mediation of Russia, Iran and Turkey at the end of December 2016 between government forces and various moderate opposition formations. This zone remains the most troubled and problematic among the four created de-escalation zones. The difficulty in ensuring compliance with agreements is due to the concentration in Idlib province large quantity militants of the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (previously called the Al-Nusra Front), which is not covered by the truce. The problem of separating terrorists and moderate opposition is still acute in Syria.

Risks of sabotage

A source in the Ministry of Defense told RBC that the attack came from the al-Nusra Front organization (banned in Russia). The base could have been fired upon by supporters of the terrorist group al-Nusra Front, who are concentrated in the Syrian province of Idlib, agrees Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine.

According to the expert, it was not a “powerful group” that was behind the attack on Khmeimim, but a small sabotage group. “This is one, maximum two cars, in the back of which a Soviet 82-mm mortar is installed. Such mortars were supplied to Syria during the Soviet Union hundreds, if not thousands,” said the chief editor of “Arsenal of the Fatherland” to RBC. In his opinion, the fire raid could last about 1-1.5 minutes from a distance of up to 3 km, and 30-40 minutes could be fired from two mortars onto the airfield. “Such mines are one of the most dangerous ammunition for unarmored military equipment. In a minute they fired, put the mortar in the back, wrapped it in a tarpaulin and hit the road,” explained Murakhovsky. The air defense system did not detect the mines due to their small size unlike unguided rockets, the expert added.

Murakhovsky estimates the number of remaining militants in Syria at 2.5-3 thousand people. The question remains of who should be considered terrorists in Syria, since “it is very flexible concept", Deputy Director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis Alexander Khramchikhin told RBC. “Tens of thousands of people are in groups opposing Bashar al-Assad,” he pointed out.

Novaya Gazeta military columnist Pavel Felgenhauer believes that after the sabotage raid, construction will begin at the Khmeimim airbase to strengthen its defenses. “The planes were in an open area, with personnel in some shield houses. There, probably, there was some betrayal on the part of the Syrian comrades.

The base must be equipped with underground caponiers to protect equipment and people. The Khmeimim base was originally a civilian airfield, which was quickly turned into a military one,” he says. According to Felgenhauer, the outer perimeter of the Khmeimim base is guarded by the Syrian authorities, and this creates big problem, because “nobody likes Russia in Syria,” resistance to the Bashar al-Assad regime will continue, and all this creates serious difficulties for long-term basing in hostile territory. “They [the Syrian authorities] will probably find someone and hang someone demonstratively, but that doesn’t mean anything,” the expert concluded.

Shortly before the attack on Khmeimim, in mid-December, President Vladimir Putin, during a visit to Syria, withdrew Russian troops from the country. Later in the Federation Council of RBC