Let's move on to the Defence Ministry's statements on the situation in Syria, and about USA's rather exotic contribution to the fight against terrorism in Syria.
US intelligence organized a massive offensive of the terrorist group Jabhat Al-Nusra, forbidden in Russia, on the outskirts of Hama, a city located in one of the de-escalation zones, in disregard of the ceasefire agreement. They wedged in the government force's defense, trying to surround them, and encircled a Russian military police unit, wounding 3 Russians.
The reason has been revealed. In fact, Pentagon is trying to prevent the Syrian army from moving to the east of Deir ez-Zor, which appears to run counter to American geopolitical plans. Ekaterina Mironova has the details. The ceasefire agreement was signed in Astana 5 days ago. But Jabhat Al-Nusra militants don't feel like respecting it.
The terrorists launched a massive offensive against government troops in the Idlib province, which is one of the 4 de-escalation zones. The Defence Ministry's briefing says that the offensive was prepared with considerable firepower. The terrorists used tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in combat. As a result, they managed to wedge in the government forces' defense by up to 12 km.
Another task of Jabhat Al-Nusra was to capture a Russian military police unit. The platoon's function in Syria is peacekeeping. The Ministry supposes that the militants were controlled from overseas. According to the data available, the offensive was orchestrated by the American intelligence services to stop the government troops' successful progress to the east of Deir ez-Zor.
As a result of the militants' attack the military police platoon was blocked. They were repelling attacks for several hours, outnumbered by the enemy, shoulder-to-shoulder with the unit of Moali tribe, which signed the ceasefire agreement and adhered to it in such a difficult situation. The Russian military immediately formed a group to deblock and to rescue the policemen.
The group was backed by Su-25 attack aircraft. They attacked from extremely low height. As a result, the encirclement was broken. Three Russian fighters were wounded. This operation stopped the terrorists, dealing a serious blow to them. All the participants have been granted state decorations.
Within 24 hours, air strikes and artillery hit 187 objects, destroyed about 850 terrorists, 11 tanks, 4 infantry fighting vehicles, 46 pickups, 5 mortars, 20 trucks, 38 weapon warehouses. Capitalizing on the situation, the Syrian government troops launched a counteroffensive, reversing the momentum.
Ekaterina Mironova, Viktor Kazakov, Stanislav Kurashov for Vesti.
