The only thing certain is that near the Syrian city of Saraqeb, where a Russian helicopter was shot down yesterday, military activity is constantly growing. Moscow must recover the bodies of the five soldiers aboard the Mi-8 shot down with an unidentified weapon system. The three crew members and two officers of the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation, were on board the aircraft when it was shot down by enemy fire. Among these also a woman.
The helicopter was en route to the Khmeimim air base. Bodies and documents of the five soldiers were filmed and distributed on the web in dozens of videos made by the group's terrorists Jaysh al-Fateh. The five Russians on board the helicopter should have died as a result of the crash near Tal Sultan.
The Kremlin, after confirming the fate of the five soldiers aboard the Mi-8, immediately activated one task force aimed at bringing the bodies back to the homeland. With each passing minute, those bodies become the subjects of the new propaganda videos.
The area of Saraqeb, meanwhile, teems with specnaz forces, supported exclusively by heavy helicopters Ka-52 (photo). The Syrian army is gathering forces, but the Kremlin's order was clear: the Russians must recover the bodies.
Then there is a given, issued by the Syria Civil Defense: a few minutes after the downing of the Mi-8, another helicopter would launch dispensers loaded with chlorine on Saraqeb. 33 people would have been affected by the gas.
Could this be the Russian retaliation for the death of the five soldiers? An attack with gas? Something doesn't come back.
Why use a helicopter, at the mercy of MANPADS, when a fighter would have been tactically more useful? Why launch a toxic gas in an immediate context?
"Medium-sized dispensers containing toxic gases have been released. The Syrian Civil Protection was unable to determine the type of gas ".
The Syrian government and Moscow have not commented on the episode. We know that the Russians are amassing speculative forces. It is no longer a question of a rapid exfiltration mission, but of an operation in hostile territory with overwhelming enemy forces. Although the Russians have two battalions of the 7th Guards Airborne Division to protect the Hemeimeem airbase and the Tartus naval structure, Moscow entrusted the operation to the GRU. Several units of the 431 ° and 561 ° should already be in Syria Naval Reconnaissance Specnaz of the Black Sea Fleet to reinforce the departments of the 45th Guards Specnaz Regiment. Rumors about a new involvement of the Vympel, active during the early stages of Russian redeployment in Syria.
The specnaz of Vympel, already operating in Chechnya, Caucasus and Ukraine, are specialized in espionage and information gathering and for missions of targeting leader. Always operating under the aegis GRU, the Russians have four thousand specnazs divided into all the four main commands of the fleets.
The Kremlin wants and must bring the bodies back home, but to do so it must have a sufficient number of commandos. It would not be wrong to speak of a real assault force.
The helicopter crashed into hostile territory, unlike in other similar episodes in recent months, and the advantage of terrorists is significant. The Russian answer will come within a few hours. In the Idlib Governorate loyalist forces are gathering.
Returning to the alleged chlorine attack, an elusive tactic aimed at attracting the international community, devised by Jaysh al-Fateh. Fearing Russian retaliation, terrorists may have staged the alleged gas attack.
Finally, a note. The Russians continue to pay a certain "superficiality", let us pass the term. The latest-generation rotor gunboats deployed in the second phase of the conflict represent a response to surface-to-air missiles arriving in Syria (via the West), considering that no Russian aircraft engaged in the early months of the conflict was equipped with electronic countermeasures against MANPADS. These high-end attack helicopters, if properly equipped, are far better suited to operate on a battlefield with ground-to-air threat than their predecessors. Optimized for night operations, Havoc e Alligator act as force multipliers for specnaz.
The MANPDAS presence in Syria is recognized as real. Why, then, do military transport helicopters like the Mi-8 (photo) continue to fly without protection and countermeasures?
The recovery mission, meanwhile, continues. As soon as the massive specnaz deployment ends, the operation will begin. A war is about to break out in Saraqeb.
(photo: web / MoD Fed. Russian)
