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A joint Russian-Syrian exercise to practice defending the Arab country’s “territorial integrity” has begun in Syria, the deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria -a division of the Russian Defense Ministry- announced on June 5.
“A joint Russian-Syrian exercise, aimed at practicing operations for defending the country’s territorial integrity from domestic and foreign threats, has begun in the airspace of the Syrian Arab Republic, in some of its territories and in the eastern section of the Mediterranean Sea,” Major General Yury Popov said.
No further details on the exercise were given. However, video footage posted to social networks showed two full-armed Su-35S fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces flying over what appears to be a training ground in Syria’s central region, which indicates that the exercise will include the deployment of advanced weapons and possibly live firings.
Russian forces were first deployed to Syria in 2015 to aid the country’s fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups. Today, a large Russian military group is deployed in an air base and a naval base on the Syrian coast, in addition to dozens of smaller posts across the country.
The joint exercise comes amid high tensions in the Middle East over the ongoing Israeli war on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip which broke out after the October 7 Hamas-led surprise attack.
The war sparked clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and led to an increase in Israeli attacks on targets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its affiliates on Syrian territory. There were also several rocket attacks from southern Syria at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
To prevent further escalation on the Golan front, the Russian military established a network of observation posts and began to conduct air patrols there a few months after the war broke out in Gaza.
Despite these measures, the threat of a surprise Israeli invasion into southern Syria remains unusually high. Faced with failure against Hamas in Gaza and fearing a risky war with heavily-armed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel could see a chance to score an easy victory in war-torn Syria. There are also several direct indications of a possible invasion. Israel has already amassed a large force in its northern region and has been working for the last few months to clear all minefields in the Golan fronts.
In addition, Israel sent several threats to Syria after the outbreak of the war in Gaza going as far as vowing to overthrow the government in Damascus if the country gets involved.
Israel’s top ally, the United States, could support an invasion of Syria as it falls in line with its plan for a regime change in the country and could possibly distract Russia from its ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.
The Russian-Syrian joint military exercise is most likely meant to deter Israel and prevent further escalation in the country, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis.
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the only thing that will be getting invaded are idf diapers with the brown brigades
sustained asymmetric warfare here could weaken the usa politically and reveal dictatorial foreign influence
how will the russians stop israeli aggression? harsh words? russians will never fire on israelis, they have pretty much shown that. recall the revenge they launched against israel after the il-20 incident? exactly. how many times has israel attacked syria? how many times did the russian defense systems shoot down israeli missiles? exactly. after the russian passenger jet was shot down (crashed?)???
true. russia will never fire on their zionist chosen mangods. aka antichrist.
israelis did not send weapons to ukronazis, so yes, russia is smooth with them. i do not think they are wrong.
russia will not fight against their zionist masters.
israeli invasion????
the jews will be happy if they still have their own country at the end of 2025!
israeli invasion 😆😆😆
good also take back your oil fields immediately. and learn from the past what is needed: first strike!
dear major general yury popov,
it might be worth considering first arming and then switching on your missile systems. thirdly, if possible, try to aim these missiles at those aircraft or military formations making aggressive incursions into syrian territory.
finally, and this is important, don’t forget to include israel in your list of possible aggressors, as this omission seems to be a reoccurring problem with your defence strategy.
signed,
a well-wisher.
the only thing that will happen is israel will cease to exist. the idf can’t defend northern israel from hezbolllah. there are constant attacks from the lebanon side of the border. 60k or more israelis have to had to seek shelter in central israel, and even there, they are not safe. tel aviv is even being attacked now.