In accordance with the appeal of the Syrian authorities, the command of the Russian Khmeimim air base organized round-the-clock patrolling of the seaport and the adjacent territory of the city of Latakia by military police units using Patrol and Tiger armored vehicles. This was reported to Izvestia on Friday, February 11, by the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Military police officers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation regularly train at the training ground of the Khmeimim air base. It is necessary to shoot at targets located at a distance of 600 m. Military exercises at the base are almost never suspended.
"In order to successfully fulfill the tasks assigned to us, we need to constantly improve our level and train. Systematic trainings with military personnel on shooting from small arms, machine guns and pistols, as well as BTR-82A weapons are held at the training grounds. Algorithms of action against the attack of a conditional enemy on significant objects are being worked out. I would like to note that every serviceman of the military police of the Russian Federation in the Syrian Arab Republic has a high level of training," says Deputy military commandant of the Russian airbase Khmeimim Ilnar Akhatov.
The military police has been carrying out combat missions in Syria continuously since 2015. She guards the Khmeimim airbase, the base of the Russian military in Tartus. Columns of armored vehicles under the flags of the Russian Federation patrol the most important highways of the country. It was thanks to the protection of the military police that it was possible to unblock the highways near Idlib, Qamishli, Deir ez-Zor.
Police patrols provide security at the most important infrastructure facilities in Syria, including the port of Latakia — the most important in Syria. The Syrian authorities have asked the Russian Federation to protect the port from a possible terrorist threat. In Damascus, they fear that the militants may change tactics and switch to diversions and terrorist attacks after they were defeated in an open confrontation.
"In accordance with the appeal of the Syrian authorities, the command of the Russian Khmeimim air base has organized round-the-clock patrolling of the seaport and the adjacent territory of Latakia by military police units using Patrol and Tiger armored vehicles. Our presence at such a significant facility precludes the possibility of provocations by illegal armed groups," said Maxim Shipilov, military commandant of the Russian Khmeimim airbase.
Drones are helping to assess the situation in the port from the air. Duty is conducted around the clock, without interruptions.
Earlier, on February 10, the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that with the mediation of officers of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the warring parties in the Syrian province of Rif-Damascus, the process of settling the status of residents and deserters continues.
In the Al-Maddamiyya district, a reconciliation point was organized right in the building of a local school. Several classrooms have been equipped with classrooms where former deserters, evaders, militants and their accomplices are tested before receiving an official pardon.
