Thu Sep 10, 2015 | 3:10 AM EDT
By Gabriela Baczynska, Tom Perry, Laila Bassam and Phil Stewart
MOSCOW/BEIRUT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Russian forces have begun participating in
military operations in Syria in support of
government troops, three Lebanese sources
familiar with the political and military situation
there said on Wednesday.
The sources, speaking to Reuters on condition
they not be identified, gave the most forthright
account yet from the region of what the United
States fears is a deepening Russian military
role in Syria's civil war, though one of the
Lebanese sources said the number of Russians involved so far was small.
U.S. officials said Russia sent two tank landing
ships and additional cargo aircraft to Syria in
the past day or so and deployed a small
number of naval infantry forces.
The U.S. officials, who also spoke on condition
of anonymity, said the intent of Russia's military moves in Syria was unclear.
One suggested the focus may be on preparing an airfield near the port city of Latakia, a stronghold of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S. officials have not ruled out the possibility
that Russia may want to use the airfield for air
combat missions.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to his Russian counterpart for the second time in four days to express concern over reports of
Russian military activities in Syria, warning that
it could fan more violence. The White House said it was closely monitoring the situation.
Russia says the Syrian government must be
incorporated into a shared global fight against
Islamic State, the Islamist group that has taken
over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
The United States and Assad's regional foes see him as part of the problem. "We would welcome constructive Russian contributions to the counter-ISIL effort, but we've been clear that it would be unconscionable for any party, including the Russians, to provide any support to the Assad regime," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
SYRIAN TROOPS PULLING BACK
Assad's forces have faced big setbacks on the
battlefield in a four-year-old multi-sided civil war
that has killed 250,000 people and driven half
of Syria's 23 million people from their homes.
Syrian troops pulled out of a major air base last Wednesday, and a monitoring group said this meant government soldiers were no longer present at all in Idlib province, most of which slipped from government control earlier this year.
Moscow confirmed it had "experts" on the
ground in Syria, its long-time ally in the Middle
East. But Russia has declined to comment on the scale and scope of its military presence.
Damascus denied Russians were involved in
combat, but a Syrian official said the presence
of experts had increased in the past year.
Reflecting Western concern, Germany's foreign minister warned Russia against increased military intervention, saying the Iran nuclear deal and new U.N. initiatives offered a starting point for a political solution to the conflict.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said reports of growing Russian military activity in Syria were a cause for concern, while France said it made finding a political solution to the crisis more complicated.
Two of the Lebanese sources said the
Russians were establishing two bases in Syria,
one near the coast and one further inland
which would be an operations base.
"The Russians are no longer just advisors," one of the sources said. "The Russians have
decided to join the war against terrorism."
RUSSIAN NAVAL BASE
Moscow's only naval base in the Mediterranean is at Tartous on the Syrian coast in territory held by Assad, and keeping it secure would be an important strategic objective for the Kremlin.
Another of the Lebanese sources said that so
far any Russian combat role was still small:
"They have started in small numbers, but the
bigger force did not yet take part ... There are
numbers of Russians taking part in Syria but
they did not yet join the fight against terrorism strongly."
The Syrian official said: "Russian experts are
always present but in the last year they have
been present to a greater degree."
Officials in the United States, which is fighting
an air war against the Islamist militant group
Islamic State in Syria and also opposes Assad's government, have said in recent days that they suspect Russia is reinforcing to aid Assad.
Washington has put pressure on countries
nearby to deny their air space to Russian
flights, a move Moscow denounced on
Wednesday as "international boorishness".
Russia has set out the case for supporting
Assad in the most forthright terms yet in the
past few days, likening the Western approach
to Syria to failures in Iraq and Libya.
Part of the diplomatic quarrel has centered
around use of air space for flights, which
Moscow says bring humanitarian aid but U.S.
officials say may be bringing military supplies.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told Reuters on Wednesday that
multiple Russian flights have passed over the
airspace of Iran and Iraq to reach Syria.
RUSSIAN OVERFLIGHTS
The State Department said Russian use of
Iranian airspace would not be surprising, given
Tehran's past support for Assad. Spokesman John Kirby said the United States had advised "partners and our friends to ask the Russians tough questions about" overflight requests.
He did not elaborate, saying only: "I’m not gonna detail diplomatic conversations."
To avoid flying over Turkey, one of Assad's
main enemies, Russia has sought to fly planes
over Balkan states, but Washington has urged
them to deny Moscow permission.
On Tuesday, Bulgaria refused a Russian
request to use its airspace citing doubts about
the cargo on board.
It said on Wednesday it would allow Russian supply flights to Syria to use its airspace only if Moscow agreed to checks of their cargo at a Bulgarian airport.
Turkey has not officially confirmed a ban on
Russian flights to Syria but says it considers
any requests to fly over its air space to Syria on a case by case basis.
Thus far in the war, Iran and its Lebanese ally
Hezbollah have been Assad's main sources of
military support.
The momentum turned against Assad earlier this year.
In the latest setback, state television reported
government troops had surrendered an air
base in northwestern Syria to a rebel alliance
after nearly two years under siege.
This meant the last government troops had
withdrawn from central Idlib province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the conflict.
(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in
Amman; Mark Hosenball and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Writing by Tom Perry, Sylvia Westall, Peter Graff and Phil Stewart; Editing by Giles Elgood, David Storey, Grant McCool)
By Gabriela Baczynska, Tom Perry, Laila Bassam and Phil Stewart
MOSCOW/BEIRUT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Russian forces have begun participating in
military operations in Syria in support of
government troops, three Lebanese sources
familiar with the political and military situation
there said on Wednesday.
The sources, speaking to Reuters on condition
they not be identified, gave the most forthright
account yet from the region of what the United
States fears is a deepening Russian military
role in Syria's civil war, though one of the
Lebanese sources said the number of Russians involved so far was small.
U.S. officials said Russia sent two tank landing
ships and additional cargo aircraft to Syria in
the past day or so and deployed a small
number of naval infantry forces.
The U.S. officials, who also spoke on condition
of anonymity, said the intent of Russia's military moves in Syria was unclear.
One suggested the focus may be on preparing an airfield near the port city of Latakia, a stronghold of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S. officials have not ruled out the possibility
that Russia may want to use the airfield for air
combat missions.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to his Russian counterpart for the second time in four days to express concern over reports of
Russian military activities in Syria, warning that
it could fan more violence. The White House said it was closely monitoring the situation.
Russia says the Syrian government must be
incorporated into a shared global fight against
Islamic State, the Islamist group that has taken
over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
The United States and Assad's regional foes see him as part of the problem. "We would welcome constructive Russian contributions to the counter-ISIL effort, but we've been clear that it would be unconscionable for any party, including the Russians, to provide any support to the Assad regime," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
SYRIAN TROOPS PULLING BACK
Assad's forces have faced big setbacks on the
battlefield in a four-year-old multi-sided civil war
that has killed 250,000 people and driven half
of Syria's 23 million people from their homes.
Syrian troops pulled out of a major air base last Wednesday, and a monitoring group said this meant government soldiers were no longer present at all in Idlib province, most of which slipped from government control earlier this year.
Moscow confirmed it had "experts" on the
ground in Syria, its long-time ally in the Middle
East. But Russia has declined to comment on the scale and scope of its military presence.
Damascus denied Russians were involved in
combat, but a Syrian official said the presence
of experts had increased in the past year.
Reflecting Western concern, Germany's foreign minister warned Russia against increased military intervention, saying the Iran nuclear deal and new U.N. initiatives offered a starting point for a political solution to the conflict.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said reports of growing Russian military activity in Syria were a cause for concern, while France said it made finding a political solution to the crisis more complicated.
Two of the Lebanese sources said the
Russians were establishing two bases in Syria,
one near the coast and one further inland
which would be an operations base.
"The Russians are no longer just advisors," one of the sources said. "The Russians have
decided to join the war against terrorism."
RUSSIAN NAVAL BASE
Moscow's only naval base in the Mediterranean is at Tartous on the Syrian coast in territory held by Assad, and keeping it secure would be an important strategic objective for the Kremlin.
Another of the Lebanese sources said that so
far any Russian combat role was still small:
"They have started in small numbers, but the
bigger force did not yet take part ... There are
numbers of Russians taking part in Syria but
they did not yet join the fight against terrorism strongly."
The Syrian official said: "Russian experts are
always present but in the last year they have
been present to a greater degree."
Officials in the United States, which is fighting
an air war against the Islamist militant group
Islamic State in Syria and also opposes Assad's government, have said in recent days that they suspect Russia is reinforcing to aid Assad.
Washington has put pressure on countries
nearby to deny their air space to Russian
flights, a move Moscow denounced on
Wednesday as "international boorishness".
Russia has set out the case for supporting
Assad in the most forthright terms yet in the
past few days, likening the Western approach
to Syria to failures in Iraq and Libya.
Part of the diplomatic quarrel has centered
around use of air space for flights, which
Moscow says bring humanitarian aid but U.S.
officials say may be bringing military supplies.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told Reuters on Wednesday that
multiple Russian flights have passed over the
airspace of Iran and Iraq to reach Syria.
RUSSIAN OVERFLIGHTS
The State Department said Russian use of
Iranian airspace would not be surprising, given
Tehran's past support for Assad. Spokesman John Kirby said the United States had advised "partners and our friends to ask the Russians tough questions about" overflight requests.
He did not elaborate, saying only: "I’m not gonna detail diplomatic conversations."
To avoid flying over Turkey, one of Assad's
main enemies, Russia has sought to fly planes
over Balkan states, but Washington has urged
them to deny Moscow permission.
On Tuesday, Bulgaria refused a Russian
request to use its airspace citing doubts about
the cargo on board.
It said on Wednesday it would allow Russian supply flights to Syria to use its airspace only if Moscow agreed to checks of their cargo at a Bulgarian airport.
Turkey has not officially confirmed a ban on
Russian flights to Syria but says it considers
any requests to fly over its air space to Syria on a case by case basis.
Thus far in the war, Iran and its Lebanese ally
Hezbollah have been Assad's main sources of
military support.
The momentum turned against Assad earlier this year.
In the latest setback, state television reported
government troops had surrendered an air
base in northwestern Syria to a rebel alliance
after nearly two years under siege.
This meant the last government troops had
withdrawn from central Idlib province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the conflict.
(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in
Amman; Mark Hosenball and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Writing by Tom Perry, Sylvia Westall, Peter Graff and Phil Stewart; Editing by Giles Elgood, David Storey, Grant McCool)
Semper Fidelis
![[Image: SyAa0qj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/SyAa0qj.png)
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