The Russian Special Forces have played a key role in the offensive to recapture Aleppo.
Photo: Sputnik / Pavel Lisitsyn
“Russian special-operations forces have played a pivotal part in the Syrian ground offensive to retake Aleppo, a role shielded by secrecy about their operations there,” the Wall Street Journal newspaper wrote.
As the newspaper reported, citing some unnamed experts on Russia’s military, “in the wake of Russia’s punishing aerial bombardment, Russian special forces have been operating in Aleppo for almost two months, helping the Syrian army with a focus on targeting rebel leaders in the eastern half of the city.”
“Russia has rarely publicized the presence of their elite troops, preferring to present its involvement in Syria as largely limited to air support. Special Forces redeployed to Syria shortly after Russia launched its intervention in 2015. They came from Ukraine, where they were fighting on the side of pro-Russian rebels,” Thomas Grove, the author of the article, wrote.
“Russia is using [the Syrian conflict] as an opportunity to test and refine doctrine for these special-operation forces,” the newspaper quoted the words of Tor Bukkvoll, senior researcher at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment.
According to the article, “Russian special-operations forces typically serve high-intensity operational deployments of a few months, a rotation schedule that is modeled on the U.S. military’s elite special-operations teams. The Russians have closely studied the American experience as part of a multibillion-dollar military modernization project that began earlier in the decade.”
The newspaper reminded about a trip of then chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, to the US in 2012. According to a source of the Wall Street Journal, the purpose of his visit was to “download Americans’ experience with special forces” and create a similar structure in Russia.
“From the helmets to the kit, they [the Russian Special Forces] look almost identical,” the newspaper quoted the words of a source, close to the Pentagon.
It is a known fact that from a desk in washington it is possible to observe ever movement in Aleppo, so this must be true.
Of course. The rest of us must just take the WSJ at their word because they tell the truth and their information is reliable and corroborated by multiple credible sources. We will suffer derision, demonisation, and victimisation if we choose to confirm their reports with alternative sources. Long live democracy, hail to liberation and freedom!
Absolutely. They probably got it first hand from the White Helmets. Failing that they could have telephone The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in Coventry. He knows a thing or two. After all Coventry is for those who don’t know an industrial town in the UK so very well placed don’t you think?
You can see Russia as well.
Lol Russian gear does not batch American. It’s much more compact and lighter.
Funny how this is an article by (Tor Bukkvoll, senior researcher at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment) Why does he not write exposing Norwegian forces operating inside of Syria with UK-SAS unites? Or why not expose the 5 Norwegian solders killed in mid August on the Russia border when they spent years provoking Russia and violating previous agreements between the two nations? Norway ethnically cleansed indigenous-English tribes. Genocided ethnic-Scottish, and wiped out more then 4-million ethnic members of the Irish-race over a 400 year period. Norwegians should be the one to talk? I laugh in the face of Norwegian-supremacist-bigots. http://ihr.org/
You are calling the viking era into current affairs? Really? Is there currently a push by christianity threatening our ways?
As for 5 soldiers killed on the Russian border, what a load of crap! Where do you guys actually get your sorces? Violating previous agreements? There are the Svaldbard treaty, challenged by Russia not Norway. The Seaborder treaty accepted by all parties, a number of visa agreements and cross border trade coopretaion treaties, none of them are being threatened by anyone at the moment. The only military agreement between Russia and Norway is the CFE and CFE II treaties, and we can all agree that Norway wich currently dont have an army to speak of isnt even close to be violating those even if they wanted to.
You really need to get your facts checked….
Since I found a Norwegian, I will quickly ask what you think of operation dark room and if there is anywhere more information to find regarding this (in Norwegian is okay)?
Actually, not only is their more then 1,000 M1A1 Abrams tanks in Norway right now. But Norway is carrying out illegal missile activity in Northern Norway right now, capable of carrying Nuclear payloads. These test violated UN law. The man in charge of developing Norway’s illegal missile activity is Norwegian by blood, and a former high ranking officer from the UK’s-SAS. (He was born in the UK, though now holds Norwegian citizenship also) Mi6 will possible supply the warheads if they desire to do so. (Though I admit I do not have the facts on when or how they will receive Nuclear payload) But I do not for a fact that the missile development is being done. That it is in fact Nuclear capable. And I know who leads the development. I warn the world about these corrupt things going on. I am not the only one who knows. It is only a matter of a few years I am sure before more information and facts get leaked about this. And then the world will know for sure. The sooner, the better. – Also, all men and all woman must serve in the Norwegian military. That equals millions. Next time, get YOUR Facts Checked. lol https://counterpsyops.com/
Norway is a soverign country, this means we can have millions of M1 Tanks on our soil if we so choose. We have now had US tanks and heavy equipment in Trøndelag for the last 50years, wich is about as far away from the Russian border as poland is from France.
There is no law against developing strike missiles(cruise missiles), fitting the NSM to the F35 us the only active Norwegian missile program. The NSM is way too small to be nuclear capable, where do you get your info?
Its only gets better when you look up british stocks of warheads, they all fit on gigantic Trident ICBM, not tiny subsonic anti-ship missiles.
This missile program like all before them are done by the Kongsberg arms factory, a civillian entity. This is how its been with all domestic weapons going back to the 1830s. I am at a loss as to where the SAS fits in.
While Norway in theory has conscription it hasent been used much these last 15years. The parliament passed female conscription for this year as a feminist initiative, the army never asked for it. In total the Norwegian armed forces can field somewhere below 50 000 with full mobilization. A far cry from “millions”, as they only have around 20 000 newer rifles it sort if limits itself…..
Again get your facts checked, as you are only writing nonsense.
I can’t find anything about 5 Norwegians killed on the Russian border, could you please provide me with a source? Thanks. Reading Norwegian is not an issue.
I know of some with Scottish blood, and they are more akin to the old and censured Kvens/Quens and their history, witch is also an part of the Finns history. This Scots have and is originally North European is an more precise than Nordic, since they and we lived all over the areas we call the North European lands.
Some of the names with the fake “sami” the so called Northern Sami group, is just an invention, their language is Hungarian and still Finno-urgric but not Nordic. Some of the Names they claim is “sami” is infact ancient Scottish clans name as Hetta, and so on, there are others as well. Correct me if I am wrong.
Why dont we talk about the Crusade against the Nordic lands by the Catholic Church, the steeling of our Khaba, and so on, I ges you have no idea of what I write, do you. They lie about everything.
And Russia is the main land of Finns, and Finns is still exist thanks to the Mongols, if not, the “south Europeans” thru the Church, and its vassals as to day, wiped the Finns out of existence, that one was close. I consider Russians to be the same base, and have no problems with them, and I also know they are out door people like us, and can handle winter and so on.
But the Norwegians never debate their own military, witch is even in Africa, Mali, and so on. As specs and “advisors”. And Libya was an excellent opportune to target practicing, just ask our then FM in our Labor Gov, with the raving lunatic StoltenBERG in charge and I ges you can think the rest by your self. And firebombed city’s and our MSM was ecstatic. Yeah, the home of the Nobel piss price, right.
peace
Yeah sure, WSJ is a Zionist mouthpiece and source of FAKE NEWS.
Ambosultly correct, Russia played key role ina Allepo victory, but also a key roll y Palmyra fall.
Anonymous, unnamed source usually indicates propaganda, find this article to be nothing but BS,
Total garbage. Its true that Russian Special Forces (Chechnyan’s) are operating in Syria, but the idea that Russian MoD copied U.S. Special Forces doctrine and operational procedures is ridiculous.
These same Chechnyan Russians put a major hurt on the Georgian military and the Ukrainian one too.
Khudarov, the President of Russian Federation province of Chechnya has been itching for some time to send his elite and outright scary and lethal crack troops to Syria. He once even offered his resignation to Putin if he was not allowed to do so.
A typical cheap shot to suggest that, of course, the poor Russians had to copy special operations methods and equipment from the Americans. The origins of GRU Spetsnaz go back to the 1930s, while the US Army Rangers and Marine Raiders only date to mid-WWII, and the former were copied from and trained by the British, while the Army Special Forces only date to 1952, and was again copied from the British, to the extent that they wear the Royal Marine Commandos’ green berets, and 1st SFOD-D was copied wholesale from the SAS. The whole American special operations community is a copy. Of course, all professional special operations units check up on the competitions’ gear and techniques, and freely copy what seems to work, because that is what true military professionals do, but really, WSJ? Russia, with the oldest SF units still around has to go and get pointers from Americans? Please.