Strike on an airbase in Syria map. The United States launched a missile attack on a Syrian airbase, there were casualties

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Syrian armed forces, when repelling a Western airstrike, used S-125, S-200, Buk and Kvadrat air defense systems, which were produced in the USSR 30 years ago, reports. “Syrian air defense systems S-125, S-200, Buk and Kvadrat were involved in repelling the missile attack. These air defense systems were produced more than 30 years ago in the Soviet Union,” the Ministry of Defense said.

At the same time, all 12 cruise missiles that were aimed at Doumeir airport in the east of Damascus were successfully shot down, it added.

According to the military, in total, a coalition of British, American and French forces fired about a hundred missiles into Syria.

“More than 100 cruise missiles and air-to-ground missiles were fired at military and civilian targets in the Syrian Arab Republic by air and sea carriers from the United States, Great Britain, and France,” the department said.

As the ministry clarified, the strikes were carried out from two US Navy ships from the Red Sea, tactical aircraft over the Mediterranean Sea, as well as American strategic supersonic bombers Rockwell B-1 Lancer from the al-Tanf area.

In addition, it is known that four British Panavia Tornado fighters, which took off from the United Kingdom's Akrotiri Air Force base in Cyprus, fired cruise missiles into Syria from outside the country's airspace.

“We did not have any coordination with the Russians regarding the attacks or warn them in advance. The usual channels were used to avoid airspace conflicts. The U.S. targeted the strikes specifically to reduce the risk of Russian forces being involved,” a senior U.S. military official said.

He also stressed that the Russian side was notified of the use of Syrian airspace by the United States and its allies, but this did not imply “coordination regarding goals or planning.”

On the evening of April 13, the US President ordered missile strikes on Syrian territory in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in a city 10 km from Damascus. Great Britain and France joined the attack, reports RT. Military actions against Syria were condemned by the Russian and Iranian sides, reports NSN .

“This is, with a high degree of probability, an attempt to create difficulties for the OPCW mission, which is just starting its work in Ghouta today, or to completely disrupt it,” Kosachev said, RIA Novosti reports.

ALL PHOTOS

The United States launched a missile attack on Syria on the night of Friday, April 7: dozens of rockets hit a government air force base in Homs province. NBC News was the first to report the attack, then Washington officially confirmed the strike. The strike was carried out at the Shayrat airfield, which was also used by the Russian Aerospace Forces. The Pentagon said that no strikes were carried out on the part of the base where Russian planes were located.

The US Navy destroyers Porter and Ross, stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean, fired 59 Tomahawk missiles, the Department of Defense reported.

The missile strike, as stated in Washington, was a response to a chemical attack in the Syrian province of Idlib, which, according to the West, was carried out by the armed forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The missiles were fired at the airfield from which, according to American intelligence, the chemical attack was launched.

Until now, the US-led coalition has attacked only IS targets, leaving Bashar al-Assad’s troops alone. Now a new stage of US military intervention in Syria has begun.

CHRONICLE: USA against Assad

17:53 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, commenting on the latest events in Syria, said that he was aware of the danger of escalation of the situation and called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid any actions that could worsen the suffering of the Syrian people. In a statement issued on Friday, the Secretary General emphasized that he does not see “any other way to resolve the conflict other than a political solution.”

17:44 The State Duma, in connection with the US missile strike on the Syrian airbase of Shayrat, called on the parliaments of the world, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe “to condemn the aggressive actions of the United States of America, violating the fundamental principles of international law, undermining cooperation between states peace in the fight against terrorism,” reports TASS. The document unanimously adopted by the lower house was prepared by the Duma Committee on International Affairs.

17:40 Washington launched a missile strike on Syria “on the verge of military clashes with Russia,” in violation of both international law and existing procedures for prior notification of Congress within the United States, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “Instead of the widely circulated thesis about a joint fight against the main enemy - ISIS * (Islamic State *) - the Trump administration has proven that it will fiercely fight the legitimate government of Syria,” the head of government wrote in his Facebook. “The remnants of the pre-election fog have cleared,” he stated.

17:33 Only one of the 59 missiles fired by the US military at the Syrian airbase of Shayrat did not reach its intended target. This is reported by AR with reference to the US military. According to preliminary data from the agency, the missile, which did not reach the base, was faulty.

17:24 Latvia considers the US missile attack on the Shayrat air base in Syria to be an adequate response to the use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad regime against the civilian population of this country. "The US missile strikes on the Syrian air base of Shayrat are an adequate action to prevent the reuse of chemical weapons against the civilian population of Syria. This is a clear signal that the proliferation and use of chemical weapons is unacceptable," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

17:07 The authorities of the United Arab Emirates supported the US air strikes in Syria. This was reported by the state news agency WAM. "The UAE expresses its full support for US operations against military targets in Syria in response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons against civilians, which has resulted in the deaths of dozens of people, including women and children," the statement said. "The attack on civilians is a continuation of the heinous crimes committed by the regime against the Syrian people. This is a gross violation of international and humanitarian conventions," the UAE noted.

17:00 British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said that he is in constant contact with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in connection with the US missile attack on an air base in Syria. The British minister wrote about this in his Twitter at the end of the trip to Greece. “I fully support the actions of the United States after the unfortunate chemical attack. I am in constant contact with Rex Tillerson,” Johnson wrote, clarifying that he was returning to London.

16:48 The United States wants to continue dialogue with Russia to ensure flight safety in Syrian airspace. This was reported to TASS by the official representative of the US Department of Defense, Army Lieutenant Colonel Michelle Baldanza, commenting on Russia’s decision to suspend the memorandum on flight safety in the skies over Syria due to the strike on the Shayrat air base. “Preventing accidents and miscalculations is for the benefit of all parties operating in the airspace over Syria. And we hope that the Russian Ministry of Defense will also come to this conclusion,” Baldanza said.

16:40 The United States confirmed that Russia notified the American side of its intention to suspend the memorandum concluded with Washington on preventing incidents and ensuring the safety of air flights in Syria. This was stated by US Air Force coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian, as reported by Reuters.

16:30 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the US missile attack on Syria "a positive but insufficient step." The head of state called on the international community to take “active steps to combat crimes in Syria,” Anadolu Agency reports. “The international community has the ability to prevent the crimes of the (Bashar) Assad regime,” Erdogan emphasized.

16:21 The UN Security Council will meet on Friday, April 7, to discuss the US missile attack on Syria, Reuters reports. The meeting will take place at 11:30 local time (18:30 Moscow time). A source at the UN headquarters in New York told Interfax that the Security Council will discuss the situation around Syria at the request of Bolivia, supported by Russia.

16:19 Russia convenes an urgent meeting of the task force on a ceasefire in Syria in Geneva. This was reported to TASS by Russia's permanent representative to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Alexey Borodavkin. The group is being assembled to discuss the situation following the US strike in Syria. The task force includes countries participating in the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). The co-chairs are Russia and the United States.

16:15 The United States informed the European Union that it had carried out strikes on the Shayrat airfield in Syria, said EU diplomacy head Federica Mogherini, Interfax reports. “The United States has also advised us that these strikes are limited and aimed at preventing and deterring the commission of further chemical weapons-related atrocities,” the high representative for foreign affairs said in a statement.

16:00 Canada "fully supports" the United States' targeted action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This is stated in the official statement of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as cited by Le Journal de Montréal. Assad's use of chemical weapons and the crimes committed by the Syrian regime against its own people cannot be ignored, he concluded.

15:56 The US missile strike on Shayrat airfield demonstrates commitment to actions aimed at the forceful overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This, as TASS reports, is stated in the text of the State Duma’s draft appeal to the world’s parliaments, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the OSCE PA. The document was prepared by the Duma Committee on International Affairs, its head Leonid Slutsky told reporters.

15:50 Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen called necessary the decision of US President Donald Trump to launch a missile strike on the Shayrat air base in response to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime. The minister stated this to the Danish news agency Ritzaus Bureau. “He (Trump) had no other choice if he did not want to end up in the same position as (Barack) Obama, giving President Bashar al-Assad carte blanche,” said the head of Danish diplomacy (quoted by TASS).

15:40 The United States in Yemen and Syria is fighting on the same side with the terrorist groups Al-Qaeda (banned in the Russian Federation) and the Islamic State*. About this in my Twitter wrote Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "Less than two decades after 9/11, the US is fighting on the same side as al-Qaeda and ISIS in Yemen and Syria. It is time to stop the deception and cover-ups," Zarif wrote.

15:28 The US missile attack on a Syrian military base confirms the commitment of France, aimed at taking decisive measures against this country. This was stated by French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who is on an official visit to Tunisia, as reported by BFMTV. He recalled that President Francois Hollande has been advocating a tough Western response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria since 2013.

15:20 Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov believes that US President Donald Trump decided to strike Syria due to pressure from his opponents within the country. “The US intelligence services and military “bent over” the Trump team literally a few days after his statement about the actual refusal to seek the overthrow of Bashar Assad,” says the statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, signed by Zyuganov.

14:50 The US Embassy in Russia does not have any information about a possible change in the plans of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to visit Moscow on April 11-12 in connection with the missile attack on the Shayrat airbase. “We have not received notification of changes in the (Secretary of State) schedule,” the American diplomatic mission told TASS. The Kremlin also did not comment on the possible cancellation of the visit.

14:34 The missile strike on the Syrian airbase is “an irresponsible and short-sighted action that has neither military nor political prospects,” the office of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a statement released by SANA. It is emphasized that the purpose of the attack was to support US collaborators from among terrorist groups, TASS reports. This aggression "will only strengthen the Syrians' determination to defeat the mercenary gangs and accelerate the pace of military operations against them," Damascus said.

14:30 The American missile strike on the Shayrat base is a “necessary and adequate” response to the actions of the Syrian regime. This was stated by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi, as reported by Alghad.com.

14:06 President Vladimir Putin discussed with permanent members of the Russian Security Council the situation in Syria after the US strikes, said press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov. “Washington’s actions were once again qualified as an act of aggression contrary to international law,” he emphasized. The meeting participants expressed regret over the damage to bilateral Russian-American relations, Interfax quoted a Kremlin representative as saying.

14:00 A warplane on Friday bombed the Syrian city of Khan Sheikhoun (Idlib province), where an earlier chemical attack took place that killed dozens of people, Reuters reports, citing a witness to the attack and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The council noted that the air raid in the first half of the day was carried out by a Syrian or Russian Air Force aircraft.

13:50 Nine civilians, including four children, were killed in a US missile strike on the Syrian Shayrat airbase, SANA reported. Seven more people were injured. The dead and injured are residents of three villages located near the airfield: El-Hamrat, Ash-Shuairat, and El-Manzul, TASS reports. It is not yet clear whether this number includes the six deaths previously mentioned in the Syrian army statement.

13:35 The Syrian regime bears full responsibility for the developments that led to the US missile attack on Shayrat airbase. According to Reuters, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced this on Friday. “Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, cannot go unanswered, and those responsible must be brought to justice,” the alliance’s secretary general said.

13:20 The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry supported the US missile strike. “US actions must be supported to prevent further war crimes by the (Syrian) regime, in particular against civilians,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Kiev noted that any use of chemical weapons is a flagrant violation of international law and a war crime, and those responsible for its use in Syria must be brought to justice.

13:14 The Russian Ministry of Defense clarified the damage caused by the US missile strike. “As a result of the strike, a warehouse of material and technical equipment, an educational building, a canteen, six MiG-23 aircraft located in repair hangars, as well as a radar station were destroyed,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday, as quoted by Interfax. “The taxiway runway and Syrian Air Force aircraft parked are undamaged,” he said.

13:08 According to an eyewitness to the rocket attack, the Syrian military was apparently aware of the impending attack and tried to evacuate personnel and equipment from the Shayrat base, ABC News reports. According to a witness, the American attack lasted about 35 minutes.

13:06 There are no plans yet for a telephone conversation between the Presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, the press secretary of the Russian head of state, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters, as quoted by TASS. When asked whether Putin is planning a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Peskov also answered in the negative.

12:11 Poland supports US actions in Syria, TVP Info reports. Polish government spokesman Rafal Boshenek said Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had "crossed the line" by using chemical weapons against civilians. “We hope that US actions will lead to stabilization of the situation,” he said.

11:56 Military correspondent of the TV channel "Russia 24" Evgeny Poddubny, who is at the Shayrat airfield, reported in his Facebook that not all the planes were destroyed by the US missile strike. “Preliminarily, nine in the hangars burned down,” he wrote.

According to the journalist, the runway at the airfield was not damaged, although it was strewn with shrapnel. IN Instagram Poddubny posted photos and videos from the scene.

11:45 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he has no information about casualties among Russian military personnel as a result of US strikes on an airfield in Syria, Interfax reports. “Apparently, there are no such victims,” he said. The Foreign Minister also expressed the opinion that the United States, apparently, did not abandon its support for the terrorist organization Jabhat al-Nusra, banned in the Russian Federation, and with airstrikes in Syria they tried to divert attention from its actions.

11:42 Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu expects to have a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on current Syrian issues. As T24 reports, the Turkish minister told reporters in Antalya. “We contacted US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, requested negotiations with Sergei Lavrov, and discussed the situation with the foreign ministers of France and Germany,” he said.

11:35 Syrian journalist Thabet Salem told BBC World that the US strikes caused "significant damage" to the airfield. According to him, about 14 aircraft, runways, and warehouses at the airport were destroyed.

11:20 The US strike on a Syrian air base should not lead to the cancellation of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to Russia. This opinion was expressed on the Rossiya 24 TV channel by the head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky. The visit of the head of the State Department to Moscow is scheduled for April 12.

11:13 State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy said, speaking at a State Duma meeting on Friday, that the response to US aggression against Syria should not be Russian Iskanders, but the restoration of the supremacy of international law and the creation of a collective security system so that “all people, without exception, have a peaceful the sky above,” Interfax reports.

11:10 Significant material damage was caused to the Shayrat airfield by US missile attacks. Al Hadath TV channel reported this with reference to a statement by the Governor of Homs Province, Talal Barazi. According to him, fires caused by American missiles are being extinguished. The control tower was damaged. As TASS notes, in addition, there are reports of damage to 14 Syrian Air Force Sukhoi and MiG aircraft that were on the airfield.

10:58 The official representative of the Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin, stated the urgent need to create no-fly zones in Syria, the İhlas agency reports. “To prevent such massacres from happening again in the future, it is urgent to create no-fly zones and security zones in Syria,” Kalin said, referring to the chemical attack in Idlib attributed to the Syrian army.

10:55 The Syrian authorities intend to find out from the Russian side whether Moscow was really warned by Washington about the impending airstrike, Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad told Interfax.

10:40 Following the American attack on a Syrian air base, the Russian side is suspending the memorandum on preventing incidents and ensuring the safety of aviation flights during operations in Syria, concluded with the United States in October 2015. This is stated in a statement posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“It is obvious that the attack by American cruise missiles was prepared in advance. It is clear to any specialist that the decision to launch strikes was made in Washington before the events in Idlib, which were simply used as a pretext for a show of force,” the statement said. Moscow calls for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with the situation in Syria.

10:35 China, commenting on the US strikes on the Shayrat air base, called for restraint on all sides. The escalating situation in Syria requires a political solution that will avoid an escalation of the conflict. This was stated by the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, as quoted by TASS. "We call on stakeholders to exercise composure and restraint. We believe that a political solution to the crisis should not be abandoned," she said.

10:30 Six people were killed in a US missile attack on the Shayrat base, which resulted in heavy material losses. This, according to the Air Force, is stated in a statement by the Syrian army. As assured in Damascus, the armed forces will continue the fight against terrorism in order to restore peace and security in Syria.

10:15 British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said that the British government had close contacts with the United States at all levels as Washington prepared for attacks on the air base, the BBC reports. He noted that the missile attacks were prepared very carefully so that the Russian armed forces stationed in Syria would not be harmed. Their goal is to prevent recurrence of chemical attacks.

Fallon confirmed that the UK government fully supports US missile strikes. He clarified that Washington did not ask the British military to participate in the operation.

10:10 State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin told reporters that “we must proceed from the fact that these airstrikes were carried out against a sovereign state - a member of the UN and this is an act of aggression on the part of the United States; moreover, aggression on absolutely far-fetched pretexts.” He noted that the same pretext was used for the US invasion of Iraq. “There is no country, people are in poverty, shells are exploding there even today, chemical weapons were not found as a result; they said there was a mistake,” the speaker said. The mistake cost tens and hundreds of lives, Volodin added. The same thing could happen in Syria, he is sure.

10:00 The Syrian Air Force will “soon” resume flights against terrorist positions from the Shayrat military airfield in Homs province, which was hit by a US missile attack. This was stated on the Al Mayadeen TV channel by the governor of the province, Talal Barazi, who was quoted by TASS.

09:48 The Syrian government strongly condemns the US missile attack on a military airfield in Homs. The Minister of Information of the Republic, Ramez Tarjiman, stated this on the air of the Alikhbariya television station. “The United States used the spectacle they had inflated with the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun to commit aggression against Syria,” the minister noted (quoted by TASS).

09:43 The Japanese government supports the US administration's "resolve" and its actions in Syria. This was stated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as reported by the Kyodo agency. The head of government also noted that Tokyo “highly appreciates” Washington’s actions.

09:41 The United States warned French President Francois Hollande in advance about an impending missile attack on Syria. This was reported by the BFMTV channel. Earlier, Reuters quoted French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault as saying that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed him of the US intention to strike. The French minister called the strike "a warning to the criminal regime."

09:38 Turkey supports US missile strikes on Syria's Shayrat air base and believes the international community must stand together against the "barbarity" of the Syrian government. As reported by the BBC, the country's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus stated this to the Turkish television company Fox TV. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be punished internationally for the chemical attack, he also said.

“The strike on the airbase from which a chemical attack on civilians was launched is an important and significant step,” the Deputy Prime Minister said, as quoted by Anadolu Agency. According to him, the position of the international community must remain unchanged until the Assad regime is able to harm the Syrian people. “We hope that this US operation will contribute to ensuring peace in Syria,” he concluded.

09:32 The UK government "fully supports" the US missile strike on Shayrat air base in Syria. According to the BBC, a British government spokeswoman said London considers the measures taken to be an "adequate response" to the "barbaric chemical weapons attack" carried out by the Syrian regime and is confident they are aimed at preventing further attacks.

09:20 A missile strike on a Syrian airbase resulted in the death of three military personnel and two civilians, the AP news agency reported, citing Talal Barazi, Governor of Homs Province. In addition, he said, seven more people were injured.

09:18 As a result of the missile strike on the Shayrat airbase, no Russian citizens were injured, State Duma deputy and first deputy chairman of the veterans organization “Combat Brotherhood” Dmitry Sablin told Interfax on Friday, citing his own sources.

09:00 The US attack on targets in Syria is aggression and damages both Russian-American relations and the general fight against terrorism. This opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin was voiced on Friday by his press secretary Dmitry Peskov. According to a Kremlin spokesman, the head of state believes that the strikes were carried out “under a far-fetched pretext,” TASS reports.

Peskov assured that “the Syrian army does not have stockpiles of chemical weapons.” “At the same time, in Putin’s opinion, completely ignoring the facts of the use of chemical weapons by terrorists only significantly aggravates the situation,” said the presidential press secretary.

08:45 The Russians were at the Shayrat base during the missile strike, CNN reports, citing its own source. It was previously reported that the Pentagon warned the Russian authorities in advance about the planned attack, and it was also noted that the strikes were not carried out on those parts of the base where Russian forces are located.

08:42 Iran strongly condemns any such unilateral strikes, as such measures will strengthen the position of terrorists in Syria and complicate the situation in the region, Iranian news agency ISNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying.

08:40 The Syrian opposition welcomed the United States missile strike on a government air base, AP reports. Major Jamil al-Saleh of the Syrian National Council said he hoped the attack would mark a "turning point" in Syria's civil war.

08:35 Following US missile attacks, Islamic State militants launched a massive offensive on Friday morning, Al Masdar reports, citing its own military source.

In particular, Islamists stormed checkpoints of the Syrian armed forces near the strategically important city of Al-Furghala, the report said. The fighting is taking place near the Shayrat airfield.

08:21 Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Friday he supported the US decision to carry out airstrikes on a Syrian air base. He called the measures taken “a proportionate and calibrated response,” reports 9news.com.au. In a televised statement, he also called on Russia to play its role in bringing peace to Syria.

08:20 Saudi Arabia said on Friday it "fully supports" US strikes on military targets in Syria, calling them a "brave decision" by President Donald Trump in response to the use of chemical weapons against civilians. This was stated by the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Reuters.

08:17 The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported, citing its own sources, that the US missile strike had almost completely destroyed the Syrian airbase. Four soldiers, including an officer, were killed, according to a report cited by Reuters.

08:05 The head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, expressed the opinion that the American strikes on the Syrian airbase call into question the idea of ​​​​creating an anti-terrorist coalition between Russia and the United States in Syria.

“I’m afraid that with such approaches, the desired Russian-American anti-terrorist coalition in Syria, which was talked about so much after Trump came to power, will die before it was born,” the senator wrote on his page in

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    • WASHINGTON, April 7 - RIA Novosti. For the first time since the beginning of the long-term conflict in Syria, the United States launched a massive missile attack on the republic’s air force base.

    Homs Governor Talal al-Barrazi said seven people were killed in the strike: five soldiers and two civilians from a nearby village.

    The US military launched a massive missile attack on the Syrian Air Force base of Shayrat, firing 59 cruise missiles from the Ross and Porter destroyers located in the Mediterranean Sea.

    According to the American side, Russian troops could also be present at the base. The Ministry of Defense did not comment on this data. However, it later became known that none of the Russians died in the attack.

    US President Donald Trump called the strike a “proportionate response” to the alleged April 4 attack by Syrian authorities on civilians in Idlib. Thus, the current American president crossed a line that his predecessor Barack Obama, who limited himself to military support for the Syrian opposition, did not dare to cross.

    However, a few years ago, during Obama’s presidency, Trump on Twitter called him a “stupid leader” and urged him not to attack Syria, since this would not give the United States anything, but only threaten very bad consequences.

    "Once again, to our stupid leader: do not attack Syria. If you do this, there will be many very bad consequences, and the US does not gain anything from this fight," he wrote.

    The National Coalition of Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces announced on Tuesday that there were 80 victims of an attack using chemical weapons in the city of Khan Sheikhoun and 200 wounded. The opposition blamed government troops for this. The Syrian army command strongly rejected the accusations and blamed the militants and their patrons for the incident. The incident is already being investigated by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, but so far they have not published any conclusions about the possible culprits of the incident.

    Stockpiles of chemical weapons were successfully removed from Syria; in January 2016, the OPCW announced the complete elimination of the country's chemical arsenal. The organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 for the chemical disarmament of Syria.

    Massive strike

    According to official information from the Pentagon, the attack was carried out on the Shayrat air base by the Syrian Air Force at 4.40 local time (3.40 Moscow time) from the Mediterranean Sea from the destroyers Ross and Porter. 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired. The United States carried out this strike independently, without the participation of its allies.

    "Shayrat Air Base was used to store chemical weapons and for (purposes - ed.) Syrian Air Force. According to the US intelligence community, aircraft from Shayrat carried out an attack using chemical weapons on April 4. The strike (USA - ed.) was carried out to deter (Syrian - ed.) regime from the new use of chemical weapons," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said in a statement.

    "We are assessing the results of the strike. Initial data indicates that the strike caused significant damage to Syrian aircraft and supporting infrastructure at the Shayrat base. This reduced the Syrian government's ability to use chemical weapons," the statement received by RIA Novosti said.

    A base employee told the agency that all aircraft there were out of service.

    The Pentagon says it tried to “minimize the risk to base personnel,” including the Russian military stationed there. The department told RIA Novosti that before the strike they informed the Russian military through established communication channels that are used to prevent conflicts in Syria.

    “The United States maintains a wide range of military options,” a Pentagon spokesman told RIA Novosti when asked about the possibility of further strikes in Syria.

    © Ruptly


    Replace Assad

    The fact that the United States is ready to take military measures became clear on Wednesday, when Trump said that he had reconsidered his attitude towards the President of Syria, who, according to him, “crossed many boundaries” with an attack on civilians.

    Shortly after the military operation, Trump made a special address. American television channels broadcast his speech on record, although presidents usually spoke live on such occasions.

    “He (Assad – ed.) violated the UN Chemical Weapons Convention,” Trump said.

    The American leader again accused the Syrian president of "strangling" the lives of helpless men, women and children by carrying out a chemical attack against them.

    "It is in the vital interest of the United States to prevent and contain the proliferation and use of deadly chemical weapons. There is no doubt that Syria has used prohibited chemical weapons, violating its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and many UN Security Council resolutions. All recent attempts to change Assad's behavior have failed dramatically failure," said the US President.

    “The refugee crisis continues to deepen and the situation in the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its partners,” he stated.

    US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, for the first time since Washington's official statements that the issue of Assad's future was not on the agenda, said that the US would use the Geneva process on Syria to remove the Syrian president. This is exactly what the previous administration of Barack Obama sought for a long time, for which it was criticized by then-presidential candidate Trump, who believed that the United States should not interfere too much in the affairs of other countries.

    “Judging by what can be observed from video footage from helicopters, the United States has not achieved its goal,” former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, retired Lieutenant General Aitech Bizhev told the VZGLYAD newspaper. The expert also commented on the reasons why the work of the Syrian air defense was not very effective, and said that an analysis of the telemetry of American missiles would give the Russian military.


    Russian anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM) are guaranteed to cover the Russian Navy facilities in Tartus and the Aerospace Forces at the Khmeimim base. The VKS air base is protected by S-400 and Pantsir air defense systems. The logistics support point for the military fleet in Tartus is covered by a group of Pantsirs and S-300s. This information was disseminated by official representative of the Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov on Friday.

    Combat crews of Russian air defense systems in Syria are on duty around the clock, TASS quotes Konashenkov.

    This is how an official representative of the Ministry of Defense commented on the situation that developed after the US missile attack in Syria. The Syrian government base of Shayrat in Homs province was hit by Tomahawk cruise missiles, killing at least 10 people, including civilians. President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Security Council qualified the incident as an act of aggression against a sovereign state.

    Of the 59 cruise missiles fired from US Navy destroyers, only 23 reached the target, Konashenkov stated (however, the Americans say something completely different). Konashenkov also said that the Ministry of Defense plans to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of the Syrian air defense system.

    Was it possible to avoid an American strike, for example, by covering the Syrian base with the help of S-300 and S-400 air defense systems? Former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, retired Lieutenant General Aitech Bizhev answered these and other questions in a conversation with the newspaper VZGLYAD.

    OPINION: Aitech Magomedovich, do you agree with Igor Konashenkov’s assessment that the American massive missile attack on the Syrian Shayrat airbase had extremely low combat effectiveness?

    Aitech Bizhev: Judging by what can be seen from helicopter videos, the United States did not achieve its goal. The main thing: the runways of the Shayrat base are combat-ready, taxiing and some of the aircraft are also in combat-ready condition. Some caponiers are out of action, some remain. The airfield suffered some damage, but combat readiness was generally maintained.

    OPINION: At the same time, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, noted that out of 59 missiles, only 23 flew from US Navy destroyers to the Syrian air base.

    A.B.: A lot of cruise missiles were fired. But based on the results: the effectiveness of the operation is, of course, low. Flight missions were not completed. 23 missiles reached the target, and this suggests that either the missiles have not been tested for a long time, or are outdated in terms of storage time. Evaluation and analysis take time.

    OPINION: Why were 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched, no more, no less?

    A.B.: The military has a calculation of the deployment of forces to the facilities. For each object, the amount of ammunition that will help complete the combat mission is calculated. The calculation of the force was as follows: about 60 Tomahawks would be enough to complete the task - to destroy this airfield as an object. They are powerful, they have a fairly powerful warhead. But not everything was done.

    OPINION: Is it possible to compare launches of Tomahawk missiles in terms of effectiveness with launches of Caliber missiles?

    A.B.: Caliber missiles are a newer development. "Tomahawks" were developed back in 1983, but they are still quite effective. So, in terms of tactical and technical characteristics, “Caliber” and “Tomahawk” are approximately the same: both in flight range and accuracy.

    OPINION: Why was a missile strike possible in principle? How should the Syrian Air Force base be protected to avoid a strike?

    A.B.: Due to the high speed of the Tomahawks, as well as their small reflective surface, the Syrian air defense system turned out to be ineffective. Our S-400 and Pantsir air defense systems were not stationed there... We need to figure out whether there was a radar field at the airfield, whether air defense systems were on duty to guard the airfield, and if so, which ones, outdated or not. In a day or two all this will be clear.

    OPINION: The question immediately arose in the media and social networks: why was there no response from the Russian S-300 and S-400 systems?

    A.B.: Our air defense systems are located where the Khmeimim airfield is. And the Americans knew this. The strike was carried out in a detour, that is, in such a way that the Tomahawks did not enter the effective range of our anti-aircraft missile systems.

    In addition, there must be very serious reasons for carrying out strikes, since this could provoke hostilities between Russia and America. Moreover, they warned us, as expected, two hours in advance through existing communication channels that they would strike, so that we would remove all our forces and means from there.

    OPINION: Konashenkov also said that the Ministry of Defense now plans to strengthen and increase the effectiveness of the Syrian air defense system. How can I do that?

    A.B.: There must be intergovernmental agreements. The Syrian side should contact us to provide assistance, and then the issues will be considered. This is already a political component.

    OPINION: Could the Russian military track the flight of American missiles. In other words, will the Tomahawk telemetry be analyzed? And what will this give?

    A.B.: There is no doubt that analysis and debriefing is already underway: where and how the cruise missile strike was launched, how it was organized and what was accompanied by it. This is what always happens in similar cases. For example: when the Americans launched an attack on Libya in 1981, the command of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union decided to simulate this attack during exercises. The General Staff developed such an imitation, and about a month later, air defense systems were tested in the area of ​​Novorossiysk and Rostov-on-Don. Just as in the case of the American operation, an “entry” was carried out from the sea. The exercises were called “Libyan Effect”. So in this case, everything necessary will be studied and simulated to test the capabilities of air defense.