Syria – Russian Thunder
The Commander of the Russian military grouping in Syria gives first interview to “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”.
Source: http://rg.ru/2016/03/23/aleksandr-dvornikov-dejstviia-rf-v-korne-perelomili-situaciiu-v-sirii.html
Translated by KA
When President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin acknowledged the military personnel, who had particularly distinguished themselves in Syria, in the Kremlin last week, few people knew that Colonel General Aleksandr Dvornikov, who was honoured with the title Hero of Russia, had commanded our troops in that Arab country for almost 6 months.
Alexander Dvornikov C-in-C Russian Syrian Task Force
Previously the name of the military leader, who held the post of first Deputy-Chief of Staff of the Central Military District, was never mentioned in connection with the air and especially not with the ground operation against the terrorists. And only a narrow circle of people was even aware that Dvornikov was sent on assignment to Syria, that he was directing our units and coordinating their interaction with the local government forces.
The details of many of the combat operations developed and executed under Dvornikov’s command are still classified. Nevertheless, in an exclusive interview with “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” the General recounted some of the events of his Syrian campaign for the first time.
Aleksandr Vladimirovitch, let us recall what was going on in Syria at the time the Russian military contingent arrived there.
Aleksandr Dvornikov: The group of Russian troops under my command arrived in the Syrian Arab Republic in September of last year with the task of dealing with the evolving situation and with the state of the Syrian army.
I can tell you one thing: the situation at that time was clearly not in favour of Damascus. The terrorists, who numbered more than 60.000, occupied around 70% of the territory of Syria. Gangs had seized control of the major cities of Idlib, Palmyra and Raqqa.
The terrorists controlled a large part of the suburbs of Homs and Damascus, conducted large-scale offensives in the province of Latakia and were preparing to surround and capture Aleppo. And the key Damascus-Aleppo highway, joining the South and North of the country, was under constant threat of blockade by the militants.
On top of that, the government troops were exhausted after 4 years of hostilities and were holding off the terrorist offensives with great difficulty. The population was leaving the country en masse.
And what do we have now? What are the results of the military work of our servicemen in Syria?
Aleksandr Dvornikov: The activities of the Russian grouping during these five and a half months radically reversed the situation in Syria.
The coordinated work of the Russian aviation in the air with the government and loyalist forces on the ground formed the basis of the success of the military operation against the terrorists. In order to increase their combat capabilities, we gave the Syrian army modern weapons and military equipment within the framework of military-technical assistance. This included artillery systems, means of communication, intelligence etc. In the shortest possible time, a system of military advisors with its administrative apparatus was established in Syria. They successfully accomplished the task of preparing the government forces as well as the Kurds and other loyalist formations. The situation was affected positively by the fact that our advisors took a most active role in the preparation of combat activities.
This collaboration allowed them to destroy the terrorists’ infrastructure and lines of supply, to take back the initiative and to go on the offensive. And this they did in 15 directions at the same time. This forced the militants to abandon large offensive operations and to act instead in small groups.
No less important was the fact that the successful actions against the criminals inspired the Syrian people. Syrians understood that it is possible to beat and conquer ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra (both designated as terrorist organizations and banned in Russia).
In addition, a volunteer movement was born in the Syrian society, volunteer brigades and battalions were formed. Today in Syria several thousand people already fight in their ranks against the militants.
Compelling evidence that the patience of the Syrian people was exhausted was the expulsion of Jabhat Al-Nusra criminals from a number of localities in the central and southern provinces of the country by ordinary citizens.
Despite their differences with the authorities in Damascus, the Syrian Kurds took a most active part in the fight against the terrorists in the north of the country. Even now they are continuing to conduct offensive operations against ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra.
So you are saying that all sections of the population of Syria joined the fight?
Aleksandr Dvornikov: Just so. The war against terrorism in Syria has acquired a truly national character. And the situation at the front has changed dramatically. Moreover, the volunteer units played a significant role in the offensive operations.
Taking control of key regions in the northeast of the province of Aleppo seriously affected the militants’ supply lines and the transfer of reinforcements from Turkey through the corridor between Jarabulus and Azaz. This created the conditions for the crushing defeat of ISIS to the north of Aleppo.
What do we have now? We have the liberation of the Kuweires airbase as well as a number of settlements that had been under terrorist control for more than 3 years. The militants have been completely driven out of the province of Latakia. Coastal areas, in which a significant part of the population of Syria is concentrated, have been cleansed of terrorists.
In the East of Syria, Palmyra is blockaded and military action is ongoing to liberate it. The taking of this city, which has particular historical and geographical significance for Syria, will effectively cut the ISIS grouping into two parts and open the road to Raqqa and Deir-Ez-Zor, which will create the conditions necessary to reach and take control of the Iraq border.
Furthermore, control was re-established over three large oil and gas fields, which had previously served as a source of income for the terrorists.
In the Ministry of Defence reports, we often heard the names of a number of Syrian provinces – Hama, Homs and Damascus: What is going on there now?
Aleksandr Dvornikov: These provinces are located in the central part of the country. And for the most part they have been cleared of illegal armed groups. Now a most active process of reconciliation is going on there. From a military point of view it is very important that the major roads in Syria are under the control of the government forces.
Generally speaking, during the military operation Syrian troops – with air support – liberated 400 populated areas. The potential of the terrorist groups was halved, they lost the initiative and the territory controlled by them was reduced by 10.000 square kilometres.
And you mustn’t forget that around two thousand terrorists, originally coming from the Russian Federation – were destroyed on Syrian territory. Of these 17 were field commanders. These preventive measures with regards to militants are a kind of guarantee of the security of our state and of Russian citizens.
A very important result of the military operation, in my opinion, is the improved morale of the Syrian people in general and the government forces in particular. The possible disintegration of the country has been prevented.
The actions of the Russian Army in Syria didn’t just “put one over” on the Western politicians but also on their intelligence services. They perceived the deployment of our air force to the Hmeimim air base as a bolt from the blue. I would say that the whirlwind return home of our people and equipment was just as unexpected. How did you achieve this?
Aleksandr Dvornikov: Due to surprise inspections of the combat readiness of our Armed Forces they had already repeatedly practiced the transfer of significant military forces over long distances.
For this reason, when we received the order regarding deployment of the group to Syria, it was, as it should be, executed precisely and in the shortest possible time. Comprehensive support for the group from the territory of the Russian Federation was established just as quickly and effectively.
The main burden in this case rested on military-transport aircraft and the naval fleet. Since September, more than 640 air and more than 80 sea transports were carried out.
The emergence of contemporary modular construction in our army enabled the deployment to Hmeimim Airbase of all essential infrastructure elements from airfield facilities to residential and administrative buildings to refectories and showers literally in a matter of days.
Dramatic events have unfolded before your eyes over the last almost half a year in Syria. Now there is hope for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in that country. What is your evaluation of this possibility?
Aleksandr Dvornikov: You probably know that the work of the Centre for Reconciliation is organized on the territory of the Hmeimim airbase. Sixty Russian officers work there but most of them have been assigned to the provinces. Despite the apparent violations, the cessation of hostilities in Syria has for the most part been observed. The process of reconciliation is most active in the provinces of Hama and Homs. We hope that the fighting in these regions will stop completely in the nearest future.
The main thing is that the armistice process continues. At the time of my departure from Syria, 43 armed groups had agreed to the terms of the cessation of hostilities and 51 village elders had signed the reconciliation agreement. Their number is growing every day.
At the same time, the shelling by the Turks of the Kurdish military units, who are fighting against the Jabhat Al-Nusra terrorists in the north of the province of Aleppo, gives cause for concern. These actions effectively demonstrate Ankara’s support for the armed groups who are trying to derail the reconciliation process in Syria.
There is a question which has been discussed since our troops were first dispatched to Syria. Did they participate in ground operations?
Aleksandr Dvornikov: Our military advisors have worked and are working at all levels, including tactically. These officers assist their Syrian colleagues in the planning and execution of combat operations against the terrorists and also in familiarizing themselves with the Russian military equipment.
I will not hide the fact that units of our special operations forces are operating in Syria. They reconnoitre objects for the Russian airstrikes, guide planes to targets in remote areas and solve other special tasks.
But we must bear in mind that similar units from the armed forces of the USA and other coalition states also carry out diverse tasks in Syria.
Now there is a lot of talk in the media about which divisions remain in Syria after the withdrawal of the main part of the Russian group. Can you shed any light on this issue?
Aleksandr Dvornikov: I am of course not going to list the entire grouping down to the last soldier and plane. I will say this: we will retain in Syria the size of force necessary to ensure control of the cessation of hostilities. And also for the safe operation of our airbase at Hmeimim and of the post providing logistics support to the Russian Navy in Tartus.
Business Card
Aleksandr Vladimirovitch Dvornikov was born 22nd August 1961 in Ussuriysk, Primorsky Krai.
He graduated from the Ussuriysk Suvorov Military School (1978), the Moscow Higher Military School Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (1982), the Military Academy M. V. Frunze (1991) and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (2005).
He served in the Far East Military District in the positions of Platoon Commander, Company Commander and Battalion Chief of Staff. In the Western group of forces he served as a Deputy and then as Commander of a Motorized Infantry Battalion.
From 1995 to 2000 he was Regiment Chief of Staff, then Regiment Commander in the Moscow Military District. From 2000 to 2003 he served in the North Caucasus Military District as Division Chief of Staff and then as Division Commander.
In 2005 he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Unit and then the Unit Chief of Staff in the Siberian Military District, then Unit Commander (5th Red Banner Combined Arms Army) in the Far East Military District (2008-2010).
From 2011-2012 he was Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military District. From April 2012 he was Chief of Staff – First Deputy Commander of the Central Military District. He was named Colonel General.
Hot Spot
Another 160 soldiers and officers from the Russian military group in Syria have returned home. First an Il-76 military transport plane brought them from Hmeimim airbase to the Novosibirsk airport of Tolmatchevo. Then the servicemen reached the Yurga garrison in the Kemerovo region by car.
According to the Central Military District (CMD) Press Service, all of the soldiers and officers returning home were serving in the CMD Logistics Support Brigade. In Syria they tanked up the aircraft with fuel and lubricants, they provided food to the military personnel at the Hmeimim airbase, ran their bath and laundry service and maintained and repaired airfield facilities. In addition it was these experts who delivered various goods from the logistics post of our Navy in Tartus to the Russian airbase in the province of Latakia.
According to the CMD Press Service, the Yurginsky Brigade seconded more than 200 servicemen to Syria in total.
Yesterday the “Ruslan”, an An-124 military transport aircraft, flew from Hmeimim to Russia. According to some reports, it took 3 Mi-35 helicopters and various pieces of equipment to their place of permanent deployment. In Syria the crews of the “thirty-fifth” were primarily concerned with the protection of the Russian airbase from the air.
and solve other special tasks……
I guess those “tasks” generally meet an abrupt end.
Fantastic job, I hope the NATOists are taking note..
Ps I am amazed at how they managed to slip past the massive ordinance of US, especially given the scale of the task.
Medals all round!!
So all the sudden exercises and spot deployments throughout Russia that we saw during the height of the Ukraine activity was more than just routine readiness drills. Russia was seriously activating all its war-fighting capabilities from border to border, and into the near abroad.
This includes as a basic measure not showing your shape to the enemy. And being able to strike a killing blow at irresistible speed with no warning.
There are days when I think I can’t be any more impressed with Russia than I already am. Then she lands another one of those blows that I don’t see coming.
Well done General, and your commander-in-chief.
Putin practiced long distance transfers of massive airlifts from West to East, East to West in those surprise drills and then put it into use. He knew he was going to need it for Syria. It also warned off the loons in Kiev and frightened the hawks in Brussels.
Everything was out in the open, easy to observe and overwhelming for many iterations of those training exercises. Now Russia has the most ready military, the best equipped, the most successful and the most useful for fighting terrorists.
Excellence and professionalism personified.
Well done. Syria now has a chance to be reborn as well as rebuilt.
Hmmmm….I wonder what happened to the Rights To Fly over the USA that Rus was intending to do under the Open Skies Treaty…..and was denied still a standoff one wonders..,.coupla weeks ago uk ???and Sweden ??? were going to fly overr part of Rus?????????? presume it happened………..!!!!!!!!! Turkey refused overflights near the Syrian border.
Tass had a note of warning yesterday about a Consortium of investigative journalists from uk france usa germany russia going to do a very provocative investigation on VP…..probably deliberately to cause scandal etc etc re-open old speculations in the hope mud sticks(note uk is commisioned by the gov to complie list of war crimes by Rus in Syria) ….yeah anything to bring Rus down when they are succeeding in Syria…….today is the day aparently when the agreed list of opposition becomes recognised or authorised so any one else is then a terrorist.
http://www.omaha.com/news/military/russia-s-ahead-of-us-on-technology-used-in-open/article_59bd7ae8-39f5-5c1c-a9e6-4e953eccdb25.html
Posted: Sunday, March 27, 2016 12:15 am | Updated: 12:29 am, Mon Mar 28, 2016.
“….Last month Russia sought permission to fly over the U.S. using the improved system, which it has already used in Europe. The international committee that oversees the flights has 120 days to respond…..”
“…One major concern is that Russia has upgraded the cameras aboard its Open Skies aircraft to four-band digital sensors, while the U.S. is still using obsolete wet-film cameras. Haney and other defense officials fear that the upgrade will help the Russians make up for shortcomings in their deteriorating network of surveillance satellites.
“There’s really no reason to give them better access to seeing what we are doing,” said Michaela Dodge, senior defense and strategic policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation….”
What is a Colonel-General? Is he the equivalent of a Brigadier?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_ranks_and_insignia_of_the_Russian_Federation
Some say this was “Stalingrad 2.0” – that it is clear to the Empire that for now direct action against the “fortress-earth-island” is simply not on – for now. And that’s because of what the Russians have demonstrated…Maybe that’s true. Has the tide turned? Is Comrade Dvornikov a new Comrade Zhukov? Of course the scale is smaller, there are differences, but the effect – isn’t that similar in geopolitical significance? Maybe.
Empire? Here’s a quote about the nature of the foe Russia faces…”Germany may have lost WWII, but Fascism won it” – George Carlin…
So the Red Army, far from being assisted by the Normandy Invasion, saw Victory – a red flag over Normandy – stolen and the nazi beast given succor. Public secrets say so…
Given this evident truth behind the pretty myths, does anybody expect Comrade President P to accept a half-measure this time? They have quietly said that they want Alaska back, that there will be trials… What does this imply but determination toward a goal?
Pax, Brothers
Did the Russian govt state it wants the return of Alaska? Where can references about this development be found?
Please elaborate.
Siotu
They did not beat a drum and make a big point of it, but it’s been mooted several times rather quietly. They have a sound legal argument, Alaska didn’t belong to the Czar, but to a corporation owned by his brother – Russia “sold” something that she didn’t own…and most of the money the US put up went to bribe people on both sides, but mostly Seward and his cronies. And the “sale” documents lack the essential legal language necessary for a sale to occur, so I have read. The default then is that the “sale” was a 99 year lease… Seward was a totally corrupt and vastly greedy character. The story seems probably true. Seward “sold” a lease to the US under fraudulent circumstances, claiming that it was a purchase, and pocked the baksheesh…figures!
Withal, when the Czar and his kin lost their positions to the Soviet Government the ownership of Alaska held by Czar’s brother through his chartered corporation reverted to the Soviet State – that’s the legal theory so far as I understand it. However, recently, there’s been a move to invite the royal family back to Russia – so the reversion may not be significant. In fact the invite may have as backstory something to do with the claim!
Now then, there is no question of justice in the matter until the US and Russia each recognize in the other an equal status, or that Russian is the superior party. This may or may not occur, but if it does, then the case may be pressed home. History’s full of surprises!
At that time the Russian claims will naturally be heard and some accommodation will be made.
I do not recall the several sources for this – Igor Panarin was one source, A. Dugan may be another. I. Panerin has predicted the dissolution of the US into, I believe, six geographic regions – obviously if that’s what happens Alaska would drop into Russia’s orbit.
Friend, you’ll just have to search it out – it was not a banner headline. I thought at the time that it was simply a standard form in law – the plaintiff must make a formal claim, then, subsequently, if his claim is not paid, he has recourse to the courts. One cannot sue until after one has made a claim. But I don’t know the Russian forms and only assume that’s what’s going on.
Along these lines Pravda may be a source too. Pravda, by the way, quoted Comrade Putin as saying that the Russian weapons were back in Cuba. I tried and failed to confirm that claim, getting no salient response from TASS or RT. He said this, according to Pravda, at a press conference in South America two or three years ago.
None of this is important now, and if it happens nobody will be able to stop it. It’s simply going to happen or not.
Pax!
for SIOTU, who asked…
“With the full consent of the Cuban leadership, on May 11 of this year, our country has not only resumed work in the electronic center of Lourdes, but also placed the latest mobile strategic nuclear missiles “Oak” on the island. They did not want to do it the amicable way, now let them deal with this,” Putin said. – See more at: http://www.pravdareport.com/russia/politics/01-08-2012/121804-russia_army_base-0/#sthash.nrgZq21J.dpuf
The Russian people today lead the world in, leadership, morality, diplomacy, strategy, technical superiority, Christian sentiment. They have a leader who can only be described as intitiated, who has people around him who are there by destiny. At a time when the NWO in the West, required by the Anti Christ, is raising its ugly head, it is the Christ soul people of Russia who have been given the task of not only vanquishing the Anti Christ forces of those promoting the NWO, but to vouch-save the future on-going spiritual development of mankind. Mankind is at the cross roads today; we either move forward back towards our spiritual origin, or we lose everything in this Anti-Christ ‘heaven on earth’. Russia is what stands against the mighty adversary of mankind. Thank-you to Russia and its people who have suffered much over the centuries to be worthy of this mission.
SInce the Iraq war it’s been pretty obvious the BBC is not quite impartial. For those still in doubt, today this gem from the BBC news site:
If you actually read the article, you come to the conclusion that the so-called “leaders of the Alawite sect” prefer to stay anonymous, and the document which they released is nowhere to be seen. The whole article looks 100% like propaganda.
Its so frustrating to see the number of writers and SEO gurus who just tell lies
Will defo be coming back, ’tis a nice site!