THE Russian Federation Council has unanimously granted permission to President Putin to use the nation’s military force in Syria, Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov told journalists yesterday.
‘The Federation Council unanimously supported the president’s request – 162 votes in favour,’ Ivanov said. Russia will use only its Air Force in Syria against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group upon the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Ivanov said, stressing that no ground troops will be sent. ‘The operation’s military goal is exclusively air support of the Syrian armed forces in their fight against IS,’ he said.
This operation by the Russian Air Force is limited in time and the types of weapons used are not disclosed, Ivanov added. ‘The use of armed forces on the theatre of military operations is ruled out,’ he said.
Later Major-General Igor Konashenkov told the media: ‘Russia’s Aerospace Forces planes have started dealing pinpoint strikes against the positions of the Islamic State group in Syria, outlawed in Russia as terrorist. In accordance with a decision by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin, Russian Aerospace Forces planes on Wednesday started an operation to deal pinpoint strikes against ground targets of the IS terrorist group in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic,’ he said.
‘The Russian Defence Minister, General of the Army Sergey Shoigu has told his counterparts in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation that in the course of the military operation in Syria, Russian warplanes have been attacking military equipment, communication centres, motor vehicles, and munitions and fuel and lubricants depots of the Islamic State terrorists.’
Ivanov said Syria’s President Assad ‘turned to Russia, requesting military assistance’. He stressed that ‘it will be an operation of the Russian Air Force only’. Ivanov stressed that there is ‘a difference of principle’ in the approach of Russia and the West. ‘They do not comply with the international law, while we do so.’
The Kremlin chief of staff has stressed that Russia’s participation in the operation against the terrorists comes mainly in an effort to ensure national security and is not about ‘attaining foreign policy objectives or satisfying some ambitions’.
Ivanov noted that the number of Russian and CIS nationals in the ranks of the Islamic State terrorist group has been on the rise. ‘There are thousands of them, some of whom have returned to Russia. It does not take a clairvoyant to realise that such people will keep on coming back to Russia. Thus, we should pre-empt them and act while they are far away, rather than put off dealing with the problem for later, after they have gotten back to Russia,’ Ivanov added.
