Russians have been filmed fighting Syrian rebels alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces, a state-run Damascus television station has reported.
A short video purportedly showed Russian speakers fighting rebels in the Latakia mountains, according to The Times newspaper. One of Russia’s most advanced armoured cars, a BTR-82A, which its army started using last year, was also seen in the footage, firing at rebel positions. The vehicle has night vision and satellite navigation among other modern devices.
Igor Sutyagin, a specialist on the Russian military at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, said it was unclear whether the Russians were serving soldiers or contractors. But he added: “You can hear Russian, that is correct.”
An activist with the Free Syrian Army 1st Division, which is fighting in the area, said: “The Russians have been there a long time. There are more Russian officials who came to Slunfeh in recent weeks. We don’t know how many but can assure you there has been Russian reinforcement.”
Russia has long been thought to have sent military trainers to Syria, where it has a key naval base, to help government forces. But this appears to be the first time they have been seen in combat.
President Assad said last week: “We have strong confidence in the Russians as they have proven throughout this crisis, for four years, that they are sincere and transparent in their relationship with us.”
The Kremlin denied a report last week by Ynet, an Israeli newspaper, that Russia was planning to send an “expeditionary force” of thousands of military personnel to Syria.
