MESOP EXCLUSIVE: First picture ‘proof’ that Russia has troops on the ground all over Syria helping dictator Bashar Al-Assad – and they’ve been there since APRIL
These revealing pictures apparently show how Russian troops are already on the ground in Syria as Vladimir Putin allegedly defies the West.The images showing boots on the ground were originally posted on social media accounts of military personnel, but some were then hastily withdrawn once they began being noticed.The shocking pictures will be seen as proof that despite official denials from the Russian president Vladimir Putin, he has deployed increasing numbers of troops to help prop up the regime of Syrian premier Bashar Al-Assad. The pictures will infuriate western leaders who have called for the removal of Assad during the four-year civil war that has devastated the country, forced four million people to flee their homes and led to the terrifying rise of ISIS. Until recently, this facility was guarded by as few as four Russian military personnel it has been claimed, in stark contrast to the numbers now visible.
Russian troops pose in front of a picture of Putin and Assad in Syria (left) and a soldier is pictured next to a 4×4 vehicle adorned with the Syrian flag in Tartus (right), posted online by Pavel Nasilnov on August 27
Social media: This photograph, taken in Homs Governorate, Syria, was posted online by Sergei Tsyplakov
This picture taken in Tartus, Syria, where a small Russian naval facility is based, was posted on social media by Eduard Lasenko
Pictures of Russian troops taken across western Syria have been uploaded to social media. A video from Syria supposedly filmed on August 23 during the battle of the port of Latakia also shows an ultramodern Russian-made infantry combat vehicle
One picture posted this week by 19-year-old Ivan Strebkov – who serves in the Alexander Nevsky Marine Brigade, based in Baltiysk on Russia’s Baltic coast – shows four heavily armed troops at Russia’s small but longstanding Tartus naval facility in Syria.
However, the Russian forces are also seen at other locations in the war-torn country, and the pictures have been taken since April, suggesting a gradual build up.
Another image shows nine Russian soldiers around a fire in a blitzed building in Homs, some 60 miles east of the Tartus naval port.
A picture posted by Alexei Khabarov shows a Russian soldier in Arab headgear at Hama, 90 miles from Tartus.
An image posted by Sergei Alexandrov taken on July 27 appears to show a Russian soldier in a trench in Halab – or Aleppo – in war-ravaged northern Syria, 150 miles from Tartus.
Another posted by Sergei Boroda last month shows a bearded fighter in a military encampment in al-Soda – also known as al-Sawda – around ten miles northeast of Tartus.
An photograph posted by Nikoli Kazakov shows soldiers apparently arriving in Syria in April, long before recent concern that led US Secretary of State John Kerry to challenge his U.S. opposite number Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov over the Russian troops in Syria.
An undated image highlights two Russian soldiers posing beside a poster of presidents Assad and Putin.
And a pregnant Russian woman appeared to have let the cat out of the bag when she complained on social media that her husband, a marine in Putin’s armed forces, has been deployed to Syria.
This image of a soldier posing in front of a picture of Assad in Tartus was posted online by Nikita Saveliev
A soldier pictured in Latakia, posted online by Alexei Mikhailov (left) and another in Aleppo uploaded by Sergei Alexandrov on July 27 (right)
Troops give a thumbs up and hold a Syrian flag in this picture taken in Tartus and posted online by Evgeny Dolgarev on May 9
PREGNANT WOMAN COMPLAINS ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT RUSSIAN MARINE HUSBAND IS BEING DEPLOYED TO SYRIA
A frantic Russian woman has complained on a social media account that her husband – a marine in Vladimir Putin’s armed forces – has been sent on a long term military posting to Syria.
‘I know it is dangerous there, but nothing depends on me and nobody is asking if I want him to go there,’ she said.
Her words appear to let the cat out of the bag over Putin’s military deployment to support struggling Damascus dictator Bashar Assad.
Yulia pictured with her husband Yury Artamonov, who she says is being sent to Syria for up to eight months
Yury Artamonov, a marine in Vladimir Putin’s armed forces, has been sent on a posting to Syria, according to his wife
Yulia, 31, she said her husband Yury Artamonov served in the Black Sea naval fleet and that his mission to Syria could be from three to eight months.
‘The only thing left for me is pray,’ she wrote in a social media account that she has now deleted.
‘To pray that nothing happens to him, to see him back home safe and sound and healthy and better earlier than in three months – but there are rumours that they are going there for eight months.
‘And it means it will be right at the time I will give birth, and maybe even after.’
Answering a question on whether she was sure he was on such a mission, she replied on September 3: ‘Actually they are not allowed to disclose it.
‘But it appears that they are going to guard either an airport or an aerodrome or to guard somebody. But he said it was a combat mission.
‘That’s what to think about.’
Yulia said of her husband Yury: ‘There are rumours that they are going there for eight months. And it means it will be right at the time I will give birth, and maybe even after’
In a posting on another social media account, she wrote alongside a picture of her with her husband: ‘Tomorrow you will go away for three months, minimum.
‘The Russian army has no mercy for anyone! God, how long and hard it is, but it is needed for something and we’ll survive it. As always, by the way.’
Russian commentators have concluded that her husband – whose military base is Sevastopol in Crimea – is being sent to secure an air base at Latakia.
While Russia has long supplied weaponry to Damascus, a Cold War ally, the naval resupply facility of Tartus is not designated a military base and Moscow has not previously had a significant military presence in Syria.
Despite this, there are claims of a rising number of visits to Tartus from the Nikolai Filchenkov – a large assault landing ship – and other Russian naval vessels.
The vessel was pictured on September 2 and is believed to be carrying equipment from the 810th non-divisional marine brigade, based in Sevastopol in Crimea. One marine from the 810th posted his social media status as: ‘Gone to Syria’.
The collection of images have been seized on by critics to claim that Putin has taken a major decision to boost his military presence in Syria in support of the country’s autocratic president Assad.
The photographs suggest serving Russian forces have been in Syria since April at least.
Blogger Nikolay Makhno gathered together a collection of pictures from the social media accounts of alleged serving Russian soldiers.
Troops pictured at Tartus naval facility (left), posted online by Iliya Kozlov on September 2, and another in Tartus uploaded by Dmitry Nesterenko (right) on June 25
Evgeny Fedotov posted this picture on May 24, taken in the central park in Tartus Syria, where the Russians have naval facilities
‘The Russian president’s press-secretary Dmitry Peskov has denied the reports of Western media about the participation of Russian army in fighting in Syria,’ he said.
‘At the same time, photographs of Russian soldiers prove that they keep arriving to fight for Assad.
‘Not just ‘instructors’ are going there – but entire groups of special forces and marines.
‘The majority of them are coming via Tartus, but they can also be seen in Homs, Latakia, Damask, Ail As-Soda, Salamia, Ham.
‘Some army units are serving in Syria for four-to-six months, and sometimes they mask themselves like Arabs.’
The blogger from Kiev likened the build-up to the deployment of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, which was resolutely denied by Moscow.
This video from Syria supposedly filmed on August 23 during the battle of the port of Latakia shows an ultramodern Russian-made infantry combat vehicle
A soldier stands on a ship holding the Syrian flag in this photograph posed online by Dmitry Glezdnev on July 8
Troops are photographed on a ship in Gamal Abdel Nasser, Latakia, posted online by Nikolai Kazako on April 1
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