Russia launches air exercise in the Middle East – RT Russia and the former Soviet Union
Joint drill in Syria aims to bolster defences, Russian military says
The Russian Air Force has launched a joint exercise with its Syrian counterpart, the Defense Ministry in Moscow announced on Thursday.
The two nations train “Syrian airspace control issues” and testing the effectiveness of Russian air defenses in the Middle Eastern country, according to a brief Russian military statement.
Electronic warfare units are involved in the exercise, preparing joint action to counter enemy airstrikes, he added. The exercise should last until the middle of this month.
Russian military planes have been stationed in Syria since 2015, when Moscow granted a request from Damascus to provide assistance in its fight against anti-government armed groups, including jihadist militants. The intervention helped the Syrian army regain control of large swaths of the country’s territory.
The following year, Moscow published the text of a treaty signed by Syria and Russia to pave the way for the long-term accommodation of Russian forces at the Khmeimim airbase. The agreement is for an indefinite period, unless one of the parties chooses to terminate it, and is free for Moscow.
The US government has supported anti-Damascus forces since the first weeks of the Syrian conflict, which erupted in 2011. Washington has imposed harsh economic sanctions on the country, which are hampering its reconstruction efforts, and maintains a military base on Syrian soil. against the wishes of his government.
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