The regime’s forces also recaptured the hills “800” and “900” in Palmyra suburbs earlier on Wednesday. After ISIS took over the city, an worldwide outcry to save its ancient archeological sites began.
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Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi said Russian aircraft were conducting 20-25 sorties a day in support of the Palmyra offensive, even though Russia this week drew down its military presence in Syria after President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial pullout of Russian aircraft and forces from Syria, in support of the Geneva peace talks.
“Rescuing Assad from the rebellion and securing Russia’s interests – as Putin defines them – has been the real goal in Syria, and on that matter he can certainly claim success”, she wrote in an op-ed Tuesday.
Moscow is set to maintain its air base and a naval facility in Syria and Putin indicated that Russia’s drawdown would not significantly change the balance of forces in Syria.
In a thinly disguised warning to Turkey and others, he said Russian Federation was leaving behind its most advanced S-400 air defence system and would not hesitate to shoot down “any target” which violated Syrian air space. “The regime can still take some more ground if the Russians choose to support them”, he said. But he did say that Russian Federation would keep enough forces there to help enforce a cease-fire negotiated last month.
The main opposition, along with the USA and other Western nations, has long insisted any peace deal must include Assad’s departure from power, while the Syrian government and Russian Federation have said there is no such clause in the global agreements that underwrite the peace process. But the Russian leader’s comments Thursday offered more robust backing for Assad, dimming chances for progress in the deadlocked negotiations.
Praising Russian soldiers for “opening the road to peace”, Putin said the Russian side managed to establish constructive cooperation with the USA and moderate Syrian opposition forces. The withdrawal of most of those forces, announced on Monday, was agreed with Mr Assad, who had been told in advance, he said.
All conditions are in place to surround and defeat Islamic State (IS, former ISIS/ISIL) in Palmyra, Syria, Sergey Rudskoy, chief of the main operations department of the Russian General Staff, told reporters.
Colonel Abdul Jabbar al-Oqaidi, commander of the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo, pointed out that they do not have the potentials to determine the Russian munitions, which are withdrawn from Syria, in order to specify their number and quality.
“If necessary, literally within a few hours, Russian Federation can build up its contingent in the region to a size proportionate to the situation developing there and use the entire arsenal of capabilities at our disposal”, Putin said.
Friday’s remarks by Staffan de Mistura came at the end of the first week of Syria peace talks that resumed in Geneva.
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Russian warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes in and around the historic Syrian city of Palmyra on Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
