But faced with marketing their own foray into Syria for the first time since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Kremlin is borrowing USA government and broadcast tactics to replicate the media campaign that George W. Bush used to win American hearts and minds. But the war with the Islamic State does not seem very far away.
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In the past 24 hours Russias Defence Ministry said that it has continued its air strikes on IS positions in Hama, Idlib, Latakia and Raqqa. American officials say General Suleimani went to Moscow in late July in an apparent effort to coordinate on the Russian offensive in Syria, and he is also spearheading the Iranian effort to assist Iraqi militias.
NAJAF, Iraq One of the most popular Facebook posts in Iraqs Shiite heartland is a Photoshopped image of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russian Federation dressed in the robe of a southern tribal sheikh. This puts Baghdad – as well as Iran, which has also been active in the Iraqi theater – in a tough spot.
At a seminar of journalists and civic leaders last week, Faris Hammam, the leader of the local writers union, asked how many attendees were glad the Russian military was carrying out airstrikes in Syria.
Tensions between Russian Federation and Western forces have increased since Putin announced an assault on rebels who have been trying to overthrow Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Though these aircraft would have to spend less time over targets in Iraq than they do in Syria, Russian Federation could conduct aerial refueling operations to remedy that. “There could be a collision or a Russian pilot might be mistakenly shot down”.
US fighter jets that took off from the İncirlik Air Base in Turkey and were flying over Raqqah as part of coalition strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) changed their routes to avoid Russian warplanes, Pentagon spokesman Cpt.
The missile will explode on contact or within a certain distance from the target. Four of these cruise missiles crashed in Iran, near the town of Takab, as a likely testament to Russia’s limited experience in actually using this type of weapon system in an operational environment. Among the targets hit were three field hospitals.. This week, a similar poll, by the same Levada pollster, showed that 72 per cent had a broadly positive opinion of Russian air strikes.
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Noting that the British currently aren’t even operating in Syrian airspace, and that Russian aircraft are not now in Iraqi skies, Yakovenko questioned the motivation of the defense leak to the Sunday Times. And while Russian Federation cooperates closely with Iranian forces, there are not huge numbers of them in Iraq. It is not about Russian military intervention per se.
