The rescue operation of the Russian Su-24 navigator shot down yesterday by a Turkish F-16 ended successfully. He is safe and sound and is at the Hmeymim base. This was announced by a raised Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu.
"We saved him, he's fine now."
Only heavily armored helicopters were used in the operation to protect assault departments. There are no reported firefights with enemy militias in the area.
The Russians, in their first rescue mission, paid dearly for a certain "superficiality". In some ways, that first mission was very reminiscent (with due proportions) of the same approximation as the USA had in Mogadishu, Somalia, when, in 1993, they conducted an operation in enemy territory with transport helicopters: in that juncture they lost two Black Hawk. So the Russians yesterday, when immediately after the downing of the Su-24, they sent two Mi-8 transport helicopters into hostile territory.
We know how it turned out: Moscow has lost a helicopter and a marine man will never return home.
Immediately after the tragic episode (the second in a few hours), Putin ordered that the rescue operation be conducted exclusively by a specnaz group protected by heavy helicopters. The operation ended this night.
The mission was conducted by the authorities of the Voenno-Morskoj Flot Rossijskoj Federacii deployed in Syria. Always operating under the aegis GRU, the Russians have four thousand specnazs divided into all the four main commands of the fleets. They fight in support of Marina's infantry.
(photo: MoD Russian Federation)
