New statistics reveal the number of foreign fighters who were brought into Syria to support the Bashar al-Assad regime and to increase their combat experience. They indicate that more than 68,000 Russian soldiers, led by 460 generals are performing operations in Syria.
This new number is larger than what Russia noted in August 2018, when it said that it had sent more than 63,000 soldiers to Syria to participate in operations backing Assad.
On Thursday, the Russia Today website quoted the Russian Interfax news agency as saying that the Defense Ministry indicated that, “all leaders of Russian military departments, leaders of infantry, air force and air defense armies, and leaders of military divisions, and 96 percent of brigade commanders, had been posted in Syria.”
According to the Ministry, 87 percent of the tactical flight crews, 91 percent of army flight crews, and 97 percent of military transport crews, and 60 percent of strategic flight crews had developed their operations experience during operations carried out in Syria.
The Ministry also said that before the Russian military intervention in September 2015, 92 percent of Syria was outside the control of the regime.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
