On Wednesday, the Russian frigate Admiral Essen and the submarine Krasnodar launched missiles, using the Kalibr system. All targets were destroyed, and this was reported to President Putin by Defense Minister Shoygu. Evgeny Poddubny, our military correspondent, has the details from Syria.
Here, ISIS terrorists try to deploy forces in Syria from Raqqa to Old Palmyra. The video was recorded by a Russian spy drone. In 3 columns, dozens of cars and trucks carrying ammunition and militants. Pickups carry mortars and high-caliber machine guns. There are fuel trucks as well, that try to move quietly south. Intel officers detect the column on time.
Bombers take off from the Khmeimim airbase. VKS pilots fire on the militants with a series of precise shots. As a result, over 80 militants are neutralized, along with 8 fuel trucks, 36 cars transporting the terrorists and weapons, and 17 pickups carrying machine guns. The radicals' artillery has been destroyed. These reserves could substantially worsen the situation in Old Palmyra.
ISIS radicals would be in a position to break through Syrian Army positions near Tadmur. 20km east of historic Palmyra lies the highway to Deir ez-Zor. These vantage points were recently retaken by government forces. There's the small town of Arak, where ISIS used an echelon defense formation.
Further still is the small town of as-Suhnah. If the pseudo-Caliphate terrorists lose here, they will have to retreat back to Deir ez-Zor. There are simply no other places for fortifications further away. Right here is where the so-called Islamic State's militants re-deploy forces from Raqqa. There is information that Kurds from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces made an agreement with pseudo-Caliphate leaders to ensure their safety should they retreat from Raqqa through the southern corridor.
One condition: the terrorists must move in the direction of Palmyra. Now, Kurdish troops, with support from the special forces divisions of the US, Great Britain, and France, have begun closing in on Raqqa. This town, in itself, is of purely political and symbolic importance. The liberation or occupation of Palmyra is just a plus or minus from a reputation standpoint.
The militants aren't interested in the residential areas — there are no civilians here. So, there are no potential hostages or human shields. The radicals cannot establish themselves here, as the Air Force will just bomb them. ISIS terrorists require gas, oil, and other mineral resources, which are available around Tadmur.
Also, they need the roads that pass through here. The pseudo-Caliphate militants need resources to continue fighting. They also need the roads to re-deploy in force. A Russian combat group ruined the plans of the ISIS terrorists this week, using large Kalibr missiles. This is the launch of a Kalibr missile from the submarine Krasnodar, which was on patrol in the eastern Mediterranean.
Later, the same missiles are launched from the frigate Admiral Essen. Four missiles destroyed armored vehicles and the terrorists' fortifications near Palmyra. The hits were confirmed by objective control devices. Now the radicals most likely won't attempt to deploy in force; they will go back to their old tactics.
At night, small groups of 2-3 cars will move from Raqqa to Palmyra's outskirts. But the Army's Air Force is at work here, with crews from Ka-52 attack helicopters neutralizing these separate terrorist groups day and night. Here is footage of one of the radicals' tanks being destroyed. The armored vehicles were destroyed by the brand new Vikhr M1 missile. The militants never even saw the "Alligator" coming. The crew shot at the target when their helicopter was 8 km away.
