Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war

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Russian military intervention in Syria
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Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war
Part of the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war,
and the war against the Islamic State


Top: Various military operations carried out via sea, air and land in Syria
Middle: Territorial map of the Syrian civil war in September 2015
Bottom: Current territorial map of the Syrian civil war

     Syrian Government Army      Syrian National Army & others      Syrian Democratic Forces      Tahrir al-Sham      Islamic State
(For a more detailed, up-to-date, interactive map, see here.)
Date30 September 2015 – present
(8 years, 5 months and 4 weeks)
Location
Syria
Result

Ongoing

Belligerents

 Russia
 Iran
 Syria
Humanitarian support:

In support of:


 Russia
In support of:

Al-Qaeda


Islamic State Islamic State

Army of Conquest (2015–2017)[9]
Supported by:


Tahrir al-Sham (2017–present)
Supported by:


 Syrian opposition


2017–2019)[24]
Commanders and leaders

Sergey Rudskoy
(Chief of Gen Staff. Ops. Dept.)

Russia Aleksandr Dvornikov[41]
(September 2015 – June 2016)
Russia Alexander Zhuravlyov[42]
(July–December 2016)
Russia Andrey Kartapolov[43]
(December 2016 – March 2017)
Russia Sergey Surovikin
(March–December 2017)[44]
Russia Alexander Zhuravlyov[45]
(December 2017 – September 2018)
Russia Sergey Kuralenko
[46]September–October 2018
Russia Aleksandr Lapin[47]
(October 2018 – January 2019)
Russia Sergey Surovikin[48]
(January–April 2019)
Russia Andrey Serdyukov[48](April–September 2019)
Russia Aleksandr Chaiko[49][50]
(September 2019 – November 2020)
Russia Sergey Kuzovlev[51]
(November 2020 – February 2021)
Russia Aleksandr Chaiko[52]
February–June 2021
Russia Yevgeny Nikiforov
(June–October 2021)
Russia Roman Berdnikov
(October 2021-September 2022)
Russia Andrey Serdyukov
(September 2022-November 2023)
Russia Sergey Kissel
(since November 2023)
RussiaValery Asapov 
Russia Vyacheslav Gladich [53]

Field commanders of Al-Qaeda:
Abu Abdollah Jabal  (al-Nusra Front senior commander in Aleppo)[54][unreliable source?]
Abu Muhammad al-Shimali  (Senior leader)[55] Abu Hajer al-Homsi  (al-Nusra Front top military commander)[56]
Ahmad al-Ghizai  (al-Nusra Front security service chief)

Guardians of Religion)[57][58]

]


Abu 'Abd al-Karim al-Masri (

Guardians of Religion
)
Abu Adnan al-Homsi  


Islamic State Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi  (Leader until 3 February 2022)
Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi  (Leader until 27 October 2019)
Abu Mohammad al-Adnani  (Spokesperson)
Abu Suleiman al-Naser  (Replacement Military Chief)[64]
Abu Omar al-Shishani  (Senior commander in Syria)[65][66]
Gulmurod Khalimov  (Minister of war in Syria)[55]

Abu Musab al-Masri  (Minister of war in Syria)[67]

Syrian opposition Basil Zamo  (1st Coastal Division chief of staff)[68]
Syrian opposition Abu Yahia al-Hamawi[69] (Leader of Ahrar al-Sham)
Syrian opposition Nimr Al-Shukri  (Top military commander of Ahrar al-Sham)[70]
Zahran Alloush  (emir of Jaysh al-Islam)
Abu Rida al-Turkistani  (Leader of TIP)[71]


Abu Mohammad al-Julani (Emir of Tahrir al-Sham)
Abdullah al-Muhaysini (Top sharia judge of the Army of Conquest and later a senior member of Tahrir al-Sham)

Shura head of Tahrir al-Sham)
Salahuddin Shishani  (Former al-Nusra Front commander and current Tahrir al-Sham top military commander)[72]

Abu Salman al-Belarusi (Abu Rofiq) 
(Leader of Malhama Tactical)[73]
Abu Ubeidah al-Kansafra  (Top military commander of Tahrir al-Sham)[74][unreliable source?]

12 unknown military commanders [75]
Units involved

Russian Armed Forces:

Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran
:

Armed Forces of Armenia:

  • 12th Peacekeeping Brigade
  • al-Nusra Front (2015–17)[80]
  • Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria[81]
  • Guardians of Religion

  • Military of IS

    Free Syrian Army


    Army of Conquest (2015–17)
    Tahrir al-Sham (2017–present)

    • Liwa al-Haqq

    Jund al-Aqsa (2015–17)[86]
    Ajnad al-Sham (2015–17)[87]
    Sham Legion

    Malhama Tactical
    (since 2017)
    Strength

    Troop strength
    20,000 personnel[a]

    Naval ships
    2 Vishnya-class intelligence ship
    4 Improved Kilo-class submarines[91][92]
    1 Slava-class cruiser[93]
    Kuznetsov aircraft carrier battlegroup
    1 Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier
    1 Kirov-class battlecruiser
    2 Udaloy-class destroyers
    support vessels
    [94]
    Strategic bombers
    14 Tu-22M3[95]
    6 Tu-95MSM[95]
    5 Tu-160[95]

    Tactical bombers

    12 Su-24M2
    8 Su-34[96]
    Attack bombers

    4 Su-25SM[97]
    Fighter aircraft
    4
    Su-27SM[98]

    4

    4

    4

    4
    Su-57[103][104]
    Reconnaissance aircraft
    A-50U[105][106]
    Il-20M1
    Tu-214R[107][108]
    Attack helicopter
    12
    Mi-24P/35M[109]

    6

    4
    Ka-52[110]
    Utility helicopter
    4
    Mi-8
    AMTSh
    UAV
    Orlan-10
    Forpost[111]
    Ground arms and equipment
    UGV
    Uran-6[112]
    IMV
    Iveco Rys'[113]
    SRBM (presumed)
    2 9K720 Iskander (SS-26) missile launchers[114][115]
    SAM

    3
    Vityaz (S-350E) (unconfirmed officially)[120]

    Islamic State:
    30,000–100,000 fighters (per the

    CIA and the Iraqi Kurdistan Chief of Staff)[121]

    Small numbers of tanks and assorted armored vehicles
    [122][123]

    Free Syrian Army:
    Between 45,000 and 60,000 fighters (disputed)[124]
    Islamic Front: (2015 only)
    40,000[125]–70,000[126]


    Tahrir al-Sham:
    ca. 31,000[127]
    Ahrar al-Sham:

    10,000–21,000[128][129][130][131]
    Casualties and losses

    Mi-8AMTsh lost[141][142]
    1 Mi-28N lost[143]
    2 Mi-35 lost[144][145]
    1 Ka-52 lost[146]

    For probable Russian
    PMCs killed see here
    6,214 killed (according to SOHR)[147]
    85,000 killed (Unidentified faction. Listed as 'terrorists' according to Russia's MoD)[132]
    6,259 killed (according to SOHR)[148]
    Turkey 39 soldiers killed[149][150][151][152]
    4,326–6,416 civilians killed (according to Airwars)[153]
    8,723 civilians killed (according to SOHR)[154]

    On 30 September 2015,

    Russian involvement had been heavily invested in providing Assad with diplomatic cover and propping up the Syrian Armed Forces with billions of dollars of arms and equipment.[162] In December 2017, the Russian government announced that its troops would be deployed to Syria permanently.[163]

    At the onset of the intervention, the Syrian government controlled just around 26% of Syrian territories.

    Free Syrian militias, with a broader geo-political objective of rolling back U.S. influence.[167] In a televised interview in October 2015, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that the military operation had been thoroughly prepared in advance. He defined Russia's goal in Syria as "stabilising the legitimate power in Syria and creating the conditions for political compromise".[168] In 2016 alone, more than 80% of Russian aerial attacks targeted opposition militias fighting the Islamic State.[165] Despite Russia's extensive air support that focused on bombing opposition strongholds, Assad regime's actual control of territories reduced from 26% in 2015 to 17% in early 2017, the lowest ever.[164]

    In early January 2017,

    great-power competition with the United States, guaranteed access to the Eastern Mediterranean, and bolstered its capacity to conduct military operations across the wider region, such as the Red Sea and Libya.[161]

    The

    thermobaric weapons.[177][178][179] By the end of April 2018, the SOHR documented that Russian bombings directly killed more than 7,700 civilians, about a quarter of them children, apart from 4,749 opposition fighters and 4,893 IS fighters.[180] The Russian campaign has been criticised by numerous international bodies for indiscriminate aerial bombings across Syria that target schools and civilian infrastructures and carpet bombing of cities like Aleppo. The findings of BMJ Global Health and a UN investigation report published in 2020 revealed that the RuAF also "weaponized health-care" through its hospital bombardment campaigns; by pursuing a deliberate policy of bombing ambulances, clinical facilities, hospitals and all medical infrastructure.[c]

    The intervention polarized governments along predictable lines. Countries with close ties to Russia either voiced support or stayed neutral, while reactions by governments close to the US were critical. Western governments and other US allies strongly denounced Russia for its role in the war and its complicity with the

    Syrian regime's war crimes. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International stated that Russia is committing war crimes and deliberately targeting civilians.[181][182] The United States government condemned the intervention and imposed economic sanctions against Russia for supporting the Syrian government.[183] Officials at the United Nations condemned the Russian intervention and stated that Russia was committing war crimes.[184] Russian authorities dismissed this denunciation, including accusations of "barbarism", labeling them as false and politically motivated,[185] thereby eliciting further condemnation from governments that support the rebel groups.[184]

    Background and preparation phase

    Free Syrian militias that operated under the joint RCC command centre that answered to the Syrian Interim Government were being trained, vetted and equipped by United States and allies. Since September 2014, the U.S.-led CJTF coalition had begun direct intervention in Syria as part of its War against ISIL. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2015 that coalition airstrikes were unsuccessful in slowing down IS advances in Syria.[186][187]

    Following his successful

    1980s Afghanistan scenario through an irregular warfare strategy which sub-contracted ground operations to Syrian Armed Forces, allied foreign militias and Russian PMCs like Wagner; while Russia assumed control over air operations.[188]

    international terrorism, while laying out Syria's military problems.[190][191] According to media reports with reference to anonymous sources,[190] after a series of major setbacks suffered by the Syrian government forces in the first half of 2015, a political agreement was reached between Russia and Syria to intensify the Russian involvement; Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iran's Quds Force visited Moscow in July to work out the details of the joint campaign (Soleimani's visit was denied by Russian officials[192][193]
    ).

    In August 2015, Russia began to send Russian-operated warplanes, T-90 tanks and artillery, as well as combat troops to an airbase near the port city of Latakia in Syria.[194][195] On 26 August 2015, a treaty was signed between Russia and Syria that stipulated terms and conditions of use by Russia of Syria's Hmeimim airport, free of charge and with no time limit.[196] The treaty, ratified by Russia's parliament in October 2016, grants Russia's personnel and their family members jurisdictional immunity and other privileges as envisaged by Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.[197] In September 2015, Russia's warships of the Black Sea Fleet reached the area of eastern Mediterranean.[198]

    At the end of September, a joint information centre in Baghdad was set up by

    Ambassador of Russia to the United Kingdom, the Russian government received a similar rebuttal from the UK government.[202] In late December 2015, Turkey's president Recep Erdogan said that he had declined Russian president's offer to join this alliance as he "could not sit alongside a president [Assad] whose legitimacy" was dubious to him".[203]

    On 30 September 2015, the

    holy war against terrorism".[207]

    Prior to the start of the Russian operation in Syria as well as afterwards, Russian analysts said that Russia's military build-up in Syria was aimed inter alia at ending the de facto political and diplomatic isolation that the West had imposed on Putin in connection with the

    Assad regime merely controlled about a quarter of Syrian territories and was widely perceived to be heading towards an imminent collapse.[164]

    Prevention of Qatar–Turkey pipeline

    In an October 2016 TV interview, General Leonid Ivashov said that Russia's engagement in the conflict would allow it to block proposed pipelines between the Middle East and Europe, and thus ensure the dominance of Gazprom.[212][213]

    Countering Revolutions

    Another factor that motivated

    successful revolution in Syria, Putin sought to prevent the fall of his ally Bashar al-Assad and decided to intervene on Assad's side.[189]

    Operations by Russian military forces

    September–October 2015

    The first series of

    While Russian officials falsely claimed that the strikes were solely directed against IS bases, the location of bombings were in Homs and Hama provinces controlled by opposition militias fighting IS. Syrian civil society activists asserted that none of the strikes were against IS, but solely the rebel-held civilian areas, killing 36 civilians, including many children. US Secretary of State John Kerry denounced the targeting of opposition areas during a session with the UN Security Council. Defence Secretary Ash Carter denounced Russian attacks on opposition-held territories as being "doomed to fail."[206]

    According to Hezbollah media outlet Al Mayadeen, the Saudi/Turkish-backed Army of Conquest[13] around Jisr ash-Shugour was bombed on 1 October by Russian planes; at least 30 air strikes were carried out.[218] Al-Mayadeen outlet also claimed that on same day, another series of Russian airstrikes targeted the Tabqa airbase, which was under the control of the Islamic State organization in the Raqqa region.[219]

    Preparation of an aircraft of the Russian Air Force for combat sorties in Syria.
    Russian multirole fighter Su-30 at the Hmeymim air base.

    On 3 October, reports indicated that Hezbollah and Iranian fighters were preparing major ground offensives to be coordinated with Russian airstrikes.[220] According to CNN, the Russian defense ministry said its soldiers bombed nine ISIL positions near the group's de facto capital in Raqqa. At least 11 were killed in a reported double strike by Russia in Syria's Idlib province, according to opposition groups.[221]

    Russian Navy produced a massive cruise missiles attack from the Caspian Sea on Islamic State targets in Syria

    On the morning of 7 October 2015, according to the Russian officials, four warships from the

    3M-14T from Kalibr-NK system[222] cruise missiles that hit 11 targets within Syrian territory. The missiles passed through Iranian and Iraqi airspace in order to reach their targets at a distance of well over about 1,500 kilometres (930 miles).[223] The same day, Syrian ground forces were reported to carry out an offensive under Russian air cover.[224][225] According to CNN citing unnamed United States military and intelligence officials, 4 of 26 cruise missiles on 8 October crashed in Iran, well before reaching their targets in Syria.[226] Russia said all of its missiles hit their targets.[227][228] Iran also denied any missile crash on its territory.[229][230] Iranian defence ministry rejected any reports alleging that four of the 26 cruise missiles crashed in Iran, saying the CNN reports are part of the West's "psychological warfare".[229]

    On 8 October 2015, the number of air raids increased significantly up to over 60 sorties a day, a tempo maintained for the next 2 days.

    Russian-Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah offensive targeting rebels in Aleppo went ahead.[234][235]

    According to pro-opposition citizen journalist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, Russia lied about targeting ISIL in the early airstrikes and missiles around Raqqa. Between 17 September and 13 October they counted 36 Russian strikes against only 2 ISIL targets (with 4 ISIL deaths) and 22 civilian targets (with 70 civilian deaths plus injuries) included hospitals, a fire hall, at least one school and a highway fueling station.[236]

    November 2015