The Russian Aerospace Forces helicopter group is located in the north of Syria near the city of Kamyshly. This was reported on November 14 by the Russian military. The organization of its work will be handled by the aviation commandant, whose tasks will include ensuring the uninterrupted operation of flights, the safety of equipment and the defense of the territory. This was told to the media by the head of the commandant’s office Timur Khodjaev.

According to him, military police, special means and about ten units of automobile equipment are allocated to protect the facility. The deployment point also has an air defense system, a control center and a preflight training site. From the ground, the group is covered by the Pantsir-S missile-cannon system.

The first Russian aerospace helicopters have already been transferred to the north of the republic from the air base in Khmeimim. This was reported by the channel "Star". The flight of three cars - the Mi-8 transport and two multi-purpose Mi-35s - took about five hours with two refueling, the helicopters moved on a low-level flight, without rising above 50 m.

  • Kamyshly city, Al-Hasake province in the north-east of Siri
  • RIA News
  • © Valery Melnikov

On the eve of the helicopter VSK of Russia Mi-8 and Mi-35 have already flown over settlements and major roads in the province of Hasek, where the city of Kamyshly is located.

“We carry out the tasks of air patrolling in the northern regions of Syria, as well as accompanying convoys with humanitarian aid and convoys of military police patrols,” RIA Novosti quotes the Mi-8 navigator Ivan Petrov.

“Designate your presence”

Recall Kamyshli is located in close proximity to the Turkish border, not far from the border with Iraq. For a long time, the city was considered the unofficial capital of the self-proclaimed Kurdish Democratic Federation of Northern Syria - Syrian Kurdistan. In fact, the region became part of unrecognized autonomy in 2012.

After the start of a coalition military operation in the republic under the auspices of the United States, Kamyshly became the seat of American bases. However, after Turkey began to carry out the operation "Source of Peace" in the border areas of Syria, the United States military left a number of border areas, including Kamyshly. As the Associated Press reported, when the Americans left the city, local residents staged a protest rally, throwing potatoes at them, shouting anti-American slogans and accusing Washington of betrayal.

In mid-October, Kamyshly returned under the sovereignty of Syria, as told by the head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria, Major General Alexei Bakin.

“Local government in the settlements of Manbij in the province of Aleppo, Tabka in the province of Rakka, Kamyshli and Hasek in the province of Hasek announced the full restoration of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic on its territory,” he said.

However, although American troops have left areas of the SAR adjacent to Turkey, the Pentagon continues to maintain its presence in some regions.

  • US troops in Syria
  • AFP
  • © Delil SOULEIMAN

According to the Syrian state television company Al-Ihbaria, the US military has occupied areas in the vicinity of several oil fields in the north-east of the country.

“A convoy of American occupying forces entered Iraq through the illegal Al-Walid checkpoint and stopped in the area of ​​the Kudtania’s Aouda oil field ... and Jibs’s oil fields,” RIA Novosti quoted as saying.

As the State Department said earlier, control over oil fields in the republic is a secondary task for the United States, and the fight against terrorism remains a priority for Washington.

In total, the Pentagon plans to leave a military contingent of 500-600 people in Syria, General Mark Milli, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, said in an interview with ABC.

  • AFP
  • © DELIL SOULEIMAN

It is worth noting that Syrian government forces are also present in the northern regions of the Arab Republic with the support of the Russian military police. Corresponding agreements were reached on October 22 during a meeting in Sochi of the presidents of Russia and Turkey. Then Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a memorandum of understanding.

The parties agreed that the territory on which Operation Source of Peace is being carried out in northern Syria will be limited to the zone between the cities of Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain.

Moscow has committed to facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish military formations from the Turkish border by 30 km - Ankara intends to turn this strip into a "security zone".

In addition, the parties agreed that the Russian military police together with the Syrian government forces will occupy positions in the border areas. At the same time, patrolling the zone 10 km inland with the exception of the city of Kamyshly is carried out by the joint efforts of Russia and Turkey.

The first such mission was completed in early November. The Russian and Turkish military patrolled the area between the settlements of Ras al-Ain and Kamyshly for four hours.

According to Boris Dolgov, senior researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia's actions in the north of the republic are supported mainly by the local population.

“Only the part of the Kurdish population that seeks to create an independent state on the territory of Syria is ambiguous,” the expert explained in a comment to RT.

According to experts, although the US Armed Forces remain in the north of the SAR, the US and Russian military will be able to avoid accidental incidents after the appearance of an air base of the Russian Air Force in this part of the country.

As a senior researcher at the Center for Middle East Studies at MGIMO, Alexander Krylov, explained in an interview with RT, a special group is functioning in Syria to coordinate actions between the military of all countries present in the region.

“The Geneva accords especially emphasized the importance of coordinating the military operations of the United States and Russia in the Syrian sector. Trump, of course, is an unpredictable politician, but the size of the US military in Syria is small, the United States simply indicates its presence, ”said the expert.

The struggle for unity

At the same time, Moscow believes that Washington is striving to destroy the territorial unity of Syria by separating the regions on the eastern bank of the Euphrates in order to create a quasi-state entity there. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking at the second Paris Peace Forum. According to him, the United States is asking the Gulf countries to invest in the creation of a local administration based on the Syrian democratic forces and Kurdish people's self-defense units "with a clear intention to separate this part of Syria and control the oil fields located there."

According to experts, in addition to dividing the country, Washington also seeks to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.

  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
  • Flickr
  • © Russian Foreign Ministry

“To achieve this goal, the United States previously used radical Islamist groups, and then began to support Kurdish armed groups who wanted to create some kind of independent state on Syrian territory. The creation of the Russian air base will impede the plans of Washington, which intended to use the plans of the Kurdish armed forces in their interests, ”said Boris Dolgov.

According to Alexander Krylov, the vast majority of Syrians are in favor of maintaining the territorial borders that existed before September 2011.

“Bashar al-Assad believes that it is necessary to restore the Syrian borders that were before the conflict. However, it will be difficult for him to do this alone in the northern regions, so he will rely on the support of Russia and Iran. I think that the Kurds will not be so active in calling for the creation of their own state, ”Krylov said.

Turkey, which is not interested in intensifying Kurdish separatism in a neighboring country, also played its role in this, Krylov believes.

A similar point of view is shared by Boris Dolgov. According to the expert, the emergence of the Russian Air Force base in the north of the republic should help achieve the main goal - the restoration of the territorial integrity of Syria.

“Syrian-Russian cooperation and the joint struggle against radical Islamism continues. Strengthening the Russian presence will help to suppress the remnants of radical Islamic groups in the region and restore the unity of the state. This is a significant event not only for the fight against terrorism, but also in the context of the expansion of military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Damascus, ”the expert summed up.