Eurasia Press & News
A few days ago, we announced a massive missile strike on oil depots and convoys in Syria, 1.5 km from the Turkish border. The video, which we show again above, was shot by eyewitnesses in the attacked areas. Our military experts suggested that the Russian military had used the Tochka-U OTRK tactical ballistic missile.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), this confirms our claim. However, according to analysts at the center, Russia has also used the quasi-ballistic missile Iskander, which has a short-range.
According to preliminary data, Iskander was launched from the Russian airbase Khmeimim, located 250 km from the hit targets. Other independent sources also say Iskander was fired from a Russian base.
Russia has so far not said what weapons were used to carry out and strike. The only thing that has been confirmed so far is that the strikes were carried out by the Russian military and aimed at destroying oil convoys and depots. We remind you that the Iskander quasi-ballistic missile has been available at the Russian Kmeimim military base for several months.
Warning for Erdogan
Political scientists and military experts say the Russian strikes on March 5 are also of political significance. According to them, this is a clear signal from Moscow to Ankara that Russia is ready to use precisely all available means to protect Syrian territory.
Russian military experts go even further in their comments, saying that with this attack, Russia has shown its readiness to strike Turkish troops, not only on Syrian territory. The strike’s precision and the proximity of the attack to the Turkish border support this opinion.
What happened on March 5th?
As we reported on March 6, the Russian army has carried out the most potent attack in the Turkish-occupied areas in Syria. According to some sources, the missile attack was then supported by Russian drones, too.
Different sources claim differently. According to Russian field sources, Moscow used the attacking Orion drone. According to Syrian sources and pro-Russian websites, the Russians used several OTR-21 Tochka ballistic missiles.
The attacks took place on March 5th in northern Syria. Several Turkish-occupied areas in Aleppo province have been hit. An oil depot in the Turkish-occupied area around Tarhin was also hit. Dozens of oil trucks were destroyed. Sources claim that they saw the explosions from a distance of 40 km. According to unconfirmed information, a jihadist base in both areas was also hit.
War in Syria
In February 2020, Turkey lost at least 62 troops killed in Syria. Nearly 100 soldiers were wounded, Syrian-backed forces destroyed dozens of Turkish armored vehicles, and more than ten drones, including drones, were shot down. Washington has repeatedly accused Moscow of involvement in the deaths of Turkish soldiers, Russia rejects these allegations.
In early March, the presidents of Russia and Turkey, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed that a ceasefire came into force in the Idlib de-escalation zone. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad later said that if the US and Turkish military did not leave the country, Damascus would use power.
The reason for the Russian-Turkish negotiations was a sharp aggravation of the situation in Idlib, where in January, a large-scale offensive by the Syrian army against the positions of the armed opposition and terrorists began.
Government forces recaptured nearly half of the Idlib de-escalation zone and left behind several Turkish observation posts. After that, Ankara sharply increased its military contingent in the region and launched the operation “Spring Shield” to push the Syrian troops. Militants are loyal to Ankara and support Turkey.
