War 'War' with Evgeny Poddubny
The United States, Great Britain, and France carried out а strike against a sovereign state on Saturday morning, which once again wasn't authorized by the UN Security Council and, thus, it was illegal and in violation of the international law. It's "War" about the architecture of modern conflicts, about wars that are over, ongoing, or about to start. I am Evgeny Poddubny, a VGTRK military reporter. Hello.
We're in Damascus, live from an improvised studio. On Saturday morning, America, Britain, and France fired a total of 103 sea-based Tomahawk missiles and air-to-ground missiles at facilities on the Syrian territory. At first, most missiles seemed to have hit the target, then, it turned out that the Syrian air defense had managed to intercept the majority of the missiles. I'm here with a Komsomolskaya Pravda military correspondent Alexander Kots.
- We'll sum up the aftermath of the airstrikes against Syria. Alexander, you were at the Dumeir airfield along with our film crew where, as it became known on Saturday afternoon, Syrian air defense (the Buk self-propelled systems) had managed to intercept 12 out of 12 missiles. Did you expect such a result?
Alexander Kots: "Few people believed in Syrian air defense systems. Actually, I, for one, didn't expect such a result because, as you remember, a week before, the Israeli air force had struck the T-4 airfield located at the route Homs-Palmyra, leaving dead about 5 Iranian advisors who were there. It made me think that the efficiency of Syrian air defense systems was questionable. So, I was a bit anxious about the airstrikes. But the Saturday night showed that Syria had drawn certain conclusions. It's not the first time Syria has been bombed, facing massive airstrikes. Obviously, the personnel, the air defense troops have been prepared somehow. We've talked to a Buk crew which took part in repelling the attack. It doesn't mean that a single system destroyed 12 missiles, there were several systems. We can see that the guys are well-trained, they're in permanent combat readiness. I guess, even now they're ready to repel another airstrike if any".
To make it clear to our audience, I ask the program director Krill Bykov to show the map. It pinpoints the Syrian facilities which were the targets of the US, Britain, and France. These are the airfields located in the provinces of Damascus and Homs. It's noteworthy that those airfields are shielded by self-propelled air defense systems. Official sources report that the Syrians use S-125, S-200, the Buk self-propelled air defense systems, and the airstrikes hardly inflicted any damage on the airfields. But some facilities were destroyed. These are research and development institutions. I'll dwell on it.
Washington accuses Damascus of developing combat toxic agents in those institutions. We actually visited the place hit by the US Tomahawks. We found out that the Barzeh research center, officially called the Institution for the Development of Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industries, had developed nothing. Moreover, those facilities had been inspected by the experts of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. To discuss more issues with Alexander Kots later, I suggest watching our final story, which will clarify what we're talking about.
The result of the US-British-French airstrikes didn't live up to their military's expectations and definitely aren't what Washington is trying to make them seem. The skies over Damascus got bright as day at 4 a.m. First reports appeared about a massive missile strike. At the same time, it became evident that the missiles are being intercepted. The main question then was how many Tomahawks and air-to-ground missiles would hit their targets. A victorious report seemed to have been prepared beforehand in Washington. It was made public, stating that they destroyed everything they intended to destroy. But the reality was just the opposite. The world saw nothing of this kind neither in the late 20th nor in the 21st century. Syrian air defense managed to eliminate 71 out of 103 missiles. But it was clear that Damascus had succeeded even before the statistics were revealed.
This footage was made several hours after the airstrike. As usually, Bashar Al-Assad arrived at work at the presidential palace. The president's administration made it clear that Assad was in the capital, not sitting in a shelter. Business as usual. It's the Dumeir airfield to the east from Damascus. The airbase was a target of the US-British-French airstrikes along with other airfields. The air defense systems covering both the base and the capital are deployed here.
It's a Buk self-propelled air defense system. Just a few hours ago it participated in the defense of the Dumeir airfield. Syrian servicemen destroyed 12 US missiles over the base. Air defense specialists eliminated the threat, leaving the airfield infrastructure intact. Major Muhammed, commander of a Buk unit, says that 12 out of 12 were intercepted because the crew was ready for a strike. The servicemen are professionals.
Muhammed Saidi, crew commander: "My crew timely located all the missiles. The farthest missile was 26 km away from the airfield, the closest one was 12 km away. They were moving at a low altitude of less than five km and were creating deception targets so it was hard to locate the real targets. But we managed to do that. One officer of the two-man crew locates the target, the other has the real missile on the screen. As a commander, I was waiting for the right moment to open fire. The system does the rest. Russian armaments are powerful and reliable".
Our film crew looked around the airfield. No damages were found, aircraft are in their positions. Driving on the Dumeir airfield runway, we see that it's intact, that is, the US missiles didn't hit their target. This footage speaks for itself. When not on duty, Syrian servicemen spend their leisure time at the air base like this. You can postpone a war but never a football game. Of course, not all the missiles were destroyed.
In the morning of April 14th, Damascus residents witnessed explosions around research centers in Barzeh and Jamraya, at the Mezzeh airfield.
Our film crew visited Barzeh. Ruins are what remains of the Institution for the Development of Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industries. The lab building is completely destroyed. Western politicians claimed that scientists had developed poisonous substances here. However, the facility had been inspected by the OPCW experts. The employees say that the Institution worked on medical supplies and that students studied there.
Yarub Khaddur, the Institution employee: "When the US had destroyed this place, I cried. It was like a home to me, and I felt it crash as if my family had been in there. I had successfully worked there with students for many years. It's hard for me to understand why the Americans did this".
Nobody died in the attack by the US and its allies. This result was perceived as a military victory, here's how they celebrated it, and as a moral victory, of course. The US, UK, and French military had struck before receiving the results from the OPCW. Thus, it doesn't matter whether a chemical attack did take place in Douma or not. They did it without the UNSC authorization, thus, illegally. Moreover, Syrians repelled the attack by themselves. Russian air defense systems weren't involved. Russian servicemen were not in any danger.
Russian military facilities on the Syrian territory weren't attacked. Moreover, the US, Britain, and France didn't hit the bases where Russian military advisors could have worked. That's why the Russian air defense systems weren't involved in repelling the US attack.
- Alexander, social network users have posted over the past 24 hours that Russia should have been tougher. You've already answered to your opponents on the Internet. What do you think about it?
Alexander Kots: We should bear in mind that being tougher would mean unleashing a third world war. This attack actually revealed that the USA didn't seek to inflict any practical damage on the Syrian military infrastructure. No airfield where the aircraft take off for counter-terrorism missions was damaged. Consequently, Russian servicemen weren't affected. Gen. Gerasimov, Chief of the Russian General Staff, said we'd respond if the airstrikes damaged Russian servicemen and military infrastructure. That wasn't the case. So, Russia saves its face because it's probably the only party involved that has taken a responsible attitude towards international politics, conscious of the implications of a possible retaliatory strike at the US ships or aircraft.
- So, it's safe to say that the US president was able to save face as he'll be attacked less by his internal political rivals, Syria showed that its air defense is effective. It will be impossible to follow the US pattern in Iraq or the European one in Libya. Do you think Syrians will further refine their air defense?
- I'm sure they will and I hope we will help them. Given that ancient Soviet S-125, S-200, Kvadrat systems have proved so effective against the world's most cutting-edge military equipment, then, say, if we supplied S-300 to Syria, far more missiles would have been intercepted.
By the way, in 2013 it was Russian diplomacy that prevented a disaster. I remind you that a similar chemical provocation took place back then, but Obama didn't decide on airstrikes. Then, we won over the US politically. We refused to supply S-300 systems to Syria upon our Western partners' request. But Moscow has lately stated that we disengage ourselves from this obligation, that now we are free to supply S-300 systems to Syria and other neighboring countries. Of course, it's being followed overseas. They see what's going on, and their statements are nothing but a rhetoric.
It's noteworthy that S-300 air defense systems are defensive and represent no threat to other countries. I'd like to touch upon another important aspect. Almost a year ago the US stroke Syria's Shayrat base which is situated near Homs. Then, Washington used a chemical provocation in Khan Shaykhun as a pretext as well. Then, the Syrian air defense was ineffective.
More than 20 Tomahawk cruise missiles stroke the Shayrat air base. The runway was intact, but hangars with Syrian aircraft were damaged. Here, they are worth their weight in gold. The airfield infrastructure was hit as well. A year later, we see that the air defense didn't waste any time. Certain conclusions were drawn. When our film crew was at the Dumeir air base we talked to the crew of a Buk self-propelled system. Major Muhammed confirmed that Russian military advisors had helped to train Syrian air defense troops, preparing them to repel such attacks. 100 missiles is quite a lot, given that the Americans, the British, and the French chose different directions. That is, missiles were launched from the Mediterranean and the Red Seas, fighter aircraft and ships were used. Nevertheless, Syrian armed forces proved able to repel such strikes.
It was 'War', a program about the architecture of modern conflicts. I am Evgeny Poddubny, the cameraman is Alexander Pushin. The engineer is Stanislav Yelovsky. The director Kirill Bykov and the producer Ekaterina Sherbakova work for you in Moscow. We can discuss the program on Twitter, see you in a week. I wish you peaceful skies. See you soon.
