Russia supplied artillery systems, reconnaissance equipment to Syrian army

Russia has supplied to Damascus artillery systems, communication and reconnaissance equipment and other technologies, the commander of Russia’s group in Syria, Colonel-General Alexander Dvornikov said on Wednesday.

"Good coordination between Russian warplanes in the air and government troops and patriotically-minded forces on the ground was the main contributing factor to the success of the military operation against terrorists," Tass quoted Dvornikov as saying.

"For enhancing their combat capabilities we’ve provided advanced weapons and military equipment, such as artillery systems, communication and intelligence equipment and so on to the Syrian army," Dvornikov added.

Russia launched an operation in Syria on September 30, 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Russia’s aerospace force and naval ships were used in the operation against the militants.

Since March 15, 2016, the bulk of the Russian air group has been leaving Syria. The Defense Ministry said, though, that it would go ahead with strikes against Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra militants (both organizations are outlawed in Russia as terrorist). The truce effective in Syria since February 27 does not apply to them.

Earlier, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there were no legal restrictions on military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Damascus. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia had received Syria’s guarantees the weapons provided would be used solely for struggle against terrorism. 

Source : MENA