Russia sent missile systems to Syria

Anti-aircraft missiles has been sent by Russia to Syria in order to safeguard its jets involved in airstrikes against insurgents in the war-battered Syria, on Thursday, the commander of the Russian Air Force was quoted as saying.

In Syria since the end of September, Russia has been carrying out airstrikes on IS militants at the request of President Bashar Assad, who are Russia’s long-term ally.

Russia sent missile systems to Syria

Officials of Russia have insisted that involvement of their military in Syria will be limited to an air force operation.

Viktor Bondarev, Col Gen said in an interview with the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda that the anti-aircraft missiles are there to project Russian fighter jets from a possible hijack or attack while on mission.

“There can be different emergencies, such as hijacking the jet on the territory of a neighboring country or an attack on it,” he said. “We should be prepared for that.”

He did not specify the type of missiles Russia provided.

In the past few weeks, Western nations and Russia have been engaged in intense diplomatic talks, aiming to bring about a political settlement in Syria, that has been torn by a civil war since 2011 that has killed 250,000 people and forced millions to flee.

Earlier this week, a Russian deputy foreign minister said that Russia is aiming to host a round of talks between opposition leaders and Syrian officials next week.

According to him, Syrian government has agreed to participate but it’s unclear which opposition groups might come.