Syrian ground forces, in coordination with the Russian air contingent based in Latakia, have launched an offensive against Islamist militant groups in Aleppo, Latakia, and Hama provinces.  News reports indicate that the offensive began Wednesday, following the cruise missile strikes launched from Russian ships in the Caspian Sea.  The Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army, Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub, went on Syrian TV yesterday to report that the army has “taken the reins of military operations,” to form the 4th Assault Corps, in the aftermath of Syrian and Russian air strikes that have killed hundreds of terrorists in the three aforementioned provinces.  According to the official SANA news agency, Ayoub announced that the Syrian armed forces started a large-scale assault today, aimed at uprooting the gatherings of terrorists and expelling them from the areas and towns which have been suffering the woes and crimes of terrorism.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a rebel commander in the area, the Syrian ground assault began at daybreak yesterday, on multiple fronts, with airstrikes and a barrage of rocket and artillery fire.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported today that its jets in Syria had hit 27 targets in 22 sorties overnight.  “The [russian] bombers targeted eight militant strongholds in the province of Homs.  The militants’ fortifications were completely destroyed by the strikes,” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. 

Syrian ground forces, in coordination with the Russian air contingent based in Latakia, have launched an offensive against Islamist militant groups in Aleppo, Latakia, and Hama provinces.  News reports indicate that the offensive began Wednesday, following the cruise missile strikes launched from Russian ships in the Caspian Sea.  The Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army, Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayoub, went on Syrian TV yesterday to report that the army has “taken the reins of military operations,” to form the 4th Assault Corps, in the aftermath of Syrian and Russian air strikes that have killed hundreds of terrorists in the three aforementioned provinces.  According to the official SANA news agency, Ayoub announced that the Syrian armed forces started a large-scale assault today, aimed at uprooting the gatherings of terrorists and expelling them from the areas and towns which have been suffering the woes and crimes of terrorism.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a rebel commander in the area, the Syrian ground assault began at daybreak yesterday, on multiple fronts, with airstrikes and a barrage of rocket and artillery fire.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported today that its jets in Syria had hit 27 targets in 22 sorties overnight.  “The [russian] bombers targeted eight militant strongholds in the province of Homs.  The militants’ fortifications were completely destroyed by the strikes,” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. 

While the Obama Administration and its co-thinkers in the think-tank world in Washington squawk and complain about the Russian military offensive in Syria, it, in fact, is revealing serious Russian military capabilities that were previously little understood, if known at all.  Daniel Fielding, staff writer for Russia Insider, makes the point succinctly in an article published yesterday.  He writes that the missile strikes confirm two things: “(1) that the Russians again have demonstrated a capability that previously only the US had demonstrated; and
(2) that the coalition they have created with Syria, Iran, and Iraq is a fully operating reality, that is able to confer and agree on missile strikes.”

The critics complain that Russia could easily have hit the same targets using the aircraft that it has flying out of Latakia, but Fielding writes that “supplementing the aircraft strike force with long-range missiles greatly increases tactical flexibility, enabling a greater number of targets to be attacked.”  That is, the missiles are appropriate weapons for going after large, fixed targets, freeing the aircraft to go after more mobile targets such as trucks or artillery.  “Subsonic cruise missiles are exceptionally difficult to observe and track — and shoot down — so the element of surprise is increased. The Islamic State now knows it can be attacked anywhere and at any time — day or night — without warning.”

As for why from the Caspian Sea rather than the Mediterranean Sea, where the Russian Navy is maintaining a strong task force, Fielding writes, “The US has very powerful fleet and intelligence assets in the Mediterranean — as do US allies such as Israel.  Launching their missiles from the Caspian Sea enables the Russians to do so without outside observation or interference.”

In Moscow, Col.-Gen. Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff, confirmed that the missile strike had been coordinated with both Tehran and Baghdad, as the missiles had to fly several hundred kilometers through those two countries’ air space to get to their targets in Syria.  He stressed that all the targets had been properly analyzed using the data received from space and radio reconnaissance, communications interception, and photos made by UAVs.  Data collected by intelligence of Syria, Iran, and Iraq, including human intelligence, was also used, and all of the targets were verified, according to a press release posted by the Russian Defense Ministry.