Russian servicemen who are doing combat service in Syria may be the pride of the Russians, President of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar al-Assad in an interview, which was published on the website of the Zvezda TV channel .
"As I said in the beginning, the Russian people have a right to be proud of what their army has achieved in Syria," he said. - Undoubtedly, the families of these military men can be more proud of their sons who have achieved great things in Syria, who have defended not only the Syrian people, but also their relatives and compatriots".
This year marks exactly five years since the beginning of the Russian military operation to assist the Syrian people in liberating the country from international terrorist groups. During its active phase, which lasted from 30 September 2015 to 11 December 2017, key Syrian cities such as Palmyra, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor were liberated. The Syrian government regained control over 88% of the country. To date, the Syrian government has control over 1,435 localities.
During the Syrian operation, Russian aviation carried out more than 44,000 combat sorties, which destroyed more than 121,000 terrorist objects, almost 10,500 pieces of equipment and more than 130,000 militants. Military engineers have demined more than 20 thousand buildings, more than 1.5 thousand km of highways and defused almost 144 thousand explosive objects.
Professionalism of the Russian Army
The Russian army's good technical equipment and professionalism were clearly demonstrated during the fight against terrorism in Syria, Bashar al-Assad said.
"There is no doubt that the Russian army is very well equipped technically. It clearly manifested itself during the war. On the other hand, it is a professional army in the full sense of the word, able to precisely define goals and ways to achieve them," Assad said.
He also noted that the Russian military, with whom Damascus directly interacted at all levels, worked without interruption. According to him, the pilots "in the midst of battles made their first flights at three o'clock in the morning, even before sunrise, and finished their work at midnight. "Of course, one cannot help but remember that the Russian army has suffered losses in Syria," the Syrian president added.
Transparency and Integrity
In addition, Asad mentioned the work of the Russian Ministry of Defense. He believes that this is a kind of "umbrella", "under the cover of which are actions on the ground, having both military and political character. The Syrian leader noted that this agency is very credible, without which it would be difficult for the armies of the two countries to carry out their military tasks together.
"The basis of that trust is a high level of transparency and honesty. This applies to all agreements, everything that has been achieved in the past five years. That's how we can briefly describe the impression that many Syrian military personnel who have cooperated with their Russian counterparts have had over that time," Assad said.
According to Assad, "the Russian people, who have always been proud of their army, should be even more proud of it after those five years because of its great successes in Syria.
The events of five years ago
Speaking about the events in Syria in 2015, the Syrian leader outlined the situation as extremely dangerous. "Terrorists were attacking in different parts of the country, capturing cities with direct assistance from the USA, France, Great Britain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. They were directly supported by Western countries, by the West as a whole," the Syrian leader explained.
According to him, this extremely dangerous situation was the main subject of Damascus's contacts with the Russian military and political leadership, especially after 2014, "when terrorists were occupied by vast desert areas in eastern Syria.
Assad noted that Damascus was hoping for help then, and there were several reasons for that. The first, he said, was the important position of Syria in terms of politics. "Any mistake made here may affect the situation in the whole Middle East and other regions. The struggle for Syria because of its importance has been going on since ancient times; it is not a new phenomenon," Assad believes.
"The second reason is that the terrorism that Syria has fought against is the same terrorism that is responsible for the seizure of children in a school in Beslan in 2004, for killing innocent people in the Dubrovka Theater. This is international terrorism," the Syrian leader added. That's why, he believes, it was in Russia's interest to 'strike at terrorism' and 'avoid destabilization in Syria.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS