Mikhail Khodarenok, top military expert: I'd like to note that Defeat is always an orphan, while Victory always turns out to be a child of too many fathers. In this case, as soon as the situation in Syria is solved, there'll be many people who will say, like, "I also delivered ammo, I was a great help, I supplied the troops", things like that.
Well, talking political and military terms, from a strategic point of view, the solution of the Syrian crisis has 3 fathers, namely the Commander in Chief, the Minister of Defense, and the Chief of General Staff, that's it. Yes, I mean Russian Central Command. Also, it's noteworthy to mention all the other Russian officers and generals who put in much effort to train Syrian troops, who raised their fighting spirit, made them into military specialists, equipped Syrian troops and even led them into combat. The Syrian army could cope with the most difficult tasks under the command of Russian officers and generals who served as battalion commanders of various armed forces including artillery. These heroes, whose names remain unknown, are responsible for the success of the campaign.
As for the political aspects of the campaign, I must admit, like Semyon already said, it's far from being ended. Anyways, we will have to maintain control over the territory which has been retaken by the Syrian army. We shouldn't forget about the political future of Syria, as Syrians need to consolidate the military gains politically.
Vladimir Solovyov, host: OK, but where was the benefit for our army?
Mikhail Khodarenok, top military expert: Well, first, all the flight personnel of the RAF have been to Syria several times. All missions contained combat tasks there. It wasn't an exercise, it wasn't an operational training activity. Some might say, it was a piece of cake as there was no anti-aircraft artillery, but there were technical issues, for example, and planes could crash anyway.
Vladimir Solovyov, host: They had anti-aircraft systems, but they couldn't reach the jet-fighters.
Mikhail Khodarenok, top military expert: Sure, but imagine, what if an aircraft crashed and the pilot had to eject over unlawfully armed units? We saw how they tortured and murdered Jordanian pilots. So, they definitely risked their lives on every combat mission. So did all the flight personnel who took part in the campaign.
Vladimir Solovyov, host: There was a similar situation, when the Turks shot down a Russian bomber, and the Russian Military Command had to set up a rescue mission.
Mikhail Khodarenok, top military expert: Luckily, it was the only situation. Now, with regard to land forces, practically all the senior military authorities of regional army units have been to Syria this time, as well as almost every division commander and many regiment and brigade commanders. They obtained real combat experience. Commanding officers had to transform some of their values. It's not like at home, when they could proudly report on success in exercise, when higher rank officers came to their regiments for inspection. In Syria, they had to conduct combat activities in difficult conditions.
Vladimir Solovyov, host: Could we say, that now we have a brand new military after the war? Has it brought the armed forces to a new level? Have we managed to upgrade our Russian military hardware?
Mikhail Khodarenok, top military expert: Yes, we can say that, definitely. It was a good chance to upgrade our military equipment. Over 100 models of weapons and equipment have been tested during the campaign. Some weapons have been used for the first time. For the first time in 70 years, we used long-range aircrafts, like strategic bombers, for instance. Sea-based cruise missiles were used for the first time. They were launched both from submarines and battleships.
Vladimir Solovyov, host: What's important is that they were guided by the GLONASS navigation system.
Mikhail Khodarenok, top military expert: As well as with the help of digital maps. Of course, not every shot was accurate, but the experience which the military got in Syria is precious. I can assure you that now, after the Syrian war we have a different kind of armed forces.
