Russia declares electronic war on Israel ranging over Syria, E. Mediterranean

 

Within two weeks, Russia will arm Syria with S-300 air defense systems and start jamming navigation in the E. Mediterranean – two of the three measures announced by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow on Monday, Sept. 24 “in response to Israel’s role in downing the Russian IL-20” on Sept. 17.

Syria’s air defense electronic capacities will be boosted to level that of Russian forces in the country. But the most significant measure announced by Shoigu was: “Russia will jam satellite navigation, on-board radars and communication systems of combat aircraft, which attack targets in the Syrian territory, in the regions over the waters of the Mediterranean Sea bordering with Syria.”

Ukraine: Is Russia Planning A New Invasion?

Pictured: A Russian-backed rebel observing Ukrainian army positions near Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine, May 17, 2015. (Image source: Mstyslav Chernov/Wikimedia Commons)

 

• Russia’s aggression into Ukraine came in direct violation of its obligations under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.
• “After four years of war, Russia has at least 260,000 troops deployed along the Ukrainian border,” ready to advance. — Oleksandr Turchynov, Chairman of Ukraine’s National Defense and Security Council, April 13, 2018.
• The First Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Viktor Kononenko, recently reported that Russia might be planning another attempt to destabilize Ukraine in the fall “under the pretext of protecting the Russian-speaking population”.

This April marks the fourth year of the ongoing war in Ukraine between the Ukrainian military and Russian backed separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine, also known as the Donbas region. Prior to the beginning of the war in eastern Ukraine in April 2014, Russia annexed Crimea.

Trump announces strikes on Syria following suspected chemical weapons attack by Assad forces

Damascus sky lights up with surface to air missile fire as the U.S. launches an attack on Syria targeting different parts of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, early Saturday, April 14, 2018. (Hassan Ammar / AP)

 

The president did not specify a target for the strikes, but said the United States would aim to hit sites “associated with the chemical weapons capabilities” of Assad’s regime.

President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the United States military — in conjunction with France and the United Kingdom — to launch strikes on Syria in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad on a Damascus suburb last week.

The president did not specify a target for the strikes, but said the United States would aim to hit sites “associated with the chemical weapons capabilities” of Assad’s regime.

Russia Releases Photos Showing US Special Ops At ISIS Positions In Syria

 

The aerial photos of ISIS' territory north of #Deir_ez_Zor where #USA special operation troops are seen https://t.co/lH6u8H9bvZ pic.twitter.com/gjqlQubi9o

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) September 24, 2017

 

The Russian Defense Ministry has released aerial images allegedly showing ISIS, the SDF, and US special forces working side-by-side on the battlefield against Syrian and Russian forces in Dier ez-Zor, Syria.

As Adam Garrie reports, via The Duran, it has long been thought that the US proxy militia SDF is operating in collusion with ISIS in various parts of Syria. This has especially been the case in respect of Deir ez-Zor. In Deir ez-Zor, the Russian Defense Ministry has previously stated that the Syrian Arab Army and their allies are fired on most intensely from positions known to be held by the SDF.

Furthermore, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov recently stated,

“SDF militants work to the same objectives as Daesh terrorists. Russian drones and intelligence have not recorded any confrontations between Daesh and the ‘third force’, SDF”.

He added that Russia will not hesitate to target SDF forces that threaten the battle field progress and personal safety of Russia’s allies, namely the Syrian Arab Army.

Russia To Strike Immediately US-backed Forces If They Try To Attack Government Forces Near Deir Ezzor: Russian MoD

The Russian Aerospace Forces’ Su-25SM attack aircraft near Deir Ezzor city

 

Russia has officially informed the United States via a special communications channel that Russian forces will strike immediately US-backed forces if they attack or shell Syrian or Russian task forces operating near Deir Ezzor city, Russia Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday.

Report: U.S. Not Prepared for Russia in Europe

For years, the 173rd Airborne Brigade has trained for missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, which has dulled some of the skills it needs to effectively respond to any invasion of Europe by Russia, according to a recent assessment. The report, shared Tuesday by POLITICO, says it lacks necessary equipment to face down a potential Russian attack.

 

POLITICO reported Tuesday morning on a new assessment report on the U.S. rapid-deployment force stationed in Italy that states it faces a number of “capability gaps” in the event it should be called into combat against Russian forces in Europe.

First Russian base for SE Syria – near US garrison

 

The Russian engineering corps has started building a new base in southeastern Syria at a small village called Khirbet Ras Al-Wa’r in the Bir al-Qasab district. Until now, Moscow adhered to a policy of restricting its military presence to the western part of the country along the Mediterranean coast; no Russian troops were based further east than Palmyra.

U.S. forces bow to Russian response after ISIL seizes anti-aircraft weapons in Palmyra

ISIL regained control of Palmyra on Dec. 11.

 

The U.S.-led coalition will defer to Russia in retaking Palmyra after Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) regained control of the ancient Syrian city on Dec. 11.

“If they don’t, we will do what we need to do to defend ourselves and we’ll de-conflict those actions with the Russians,” Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, who commands the American-led coalition, said on Dec. 14 according to AFP.

ISIL took full control of Palmyra on Dec. 11 after temporarily being stopped by Russian forces.

Understanding Russia’s Concept for Total War in Europe

This great article is well worth your time reading in full at the source. The only thing it’s missing out of the entire piece is that a ‘resurgent’ Russia is not resurgent. It has always been there biding its time.

To further explain, it had purposely laid low since it’s engineered fall, otherwise known as the Perestroika Deception, allowing for America to overplay its hand in many ways and allow for the Russians to hang it with the rope the Americans sold them. The third world war, the Cold War, never went away. It went into a new deception phase which is nearing its end now. It’s goal is to supplant the American global hegemon.

How did this happen? It’s rather simple: For decades America was fed Red Cocaine, consequently became dumbed down as a result, and easily sold New Lies for Old.

 

Russia perceives itself as surrounded by enemies, and that the strategic depth that has been its principal security must be restored. In this sense, no territory is more significant than Ukraine. Russian leadership also worries about the erosion of a zone around Russia’s borders where politically dangerous ideas can be stifled before they undermine the regime’s hold on power.

Russia’s leadership believes it can stem this erosion and achieve its objectives by combining organized military violence with economic, political, and diplomatic activity, a combination called new generation warfare (NGW). NGW is a concept for fighting total war in Europe, across all fronts—political, economic, informational, cyber—simultaneously through fear and intimidation without launching a large-scale attack. If fighting is required, it is highly networked and multi-directional. The stakes can be raised rapidly, possibly without limit.

President Vladimir Putin is confident in this approach because he sees U.S. hesitation as opportunity and believes the U.S. is overly dependent on military responses. Thus, NGW is designed to avoid giving the U.S. and other adversaries a reason to respond using military force. The U.S. needs to broaden its response portfolio to include political, diplomatic, economic, financial, cyber, covert, and other means coordinated into a comprehensive approach to counter the NGW strategy. Russia has brought total war back to Europe—in a hidden, undeclared, and ambiguous form. Failure to confront Russian opportunism will validate Putin’s approach.

Fears grow Russia is using the Ukraine battlefield to rehearse for war with the West

Soldiers are thought to be combining traditional weaponry with electronic warfare

 

 

Vladimir Putin is thought to be testing tools for warfare in the field as he adopts a confrontational foreign policy stance – representing something of a “return to form” reminiscent of the Cold War days.A leaked British Army document reveals that Russian forces are improving their ability to combine their mighty tanks, artillery and other heavy weaponry with sophisticated electronic warfare.

Specifically they are honing their skills to jam enemy radio signals and render equipment like drones unusable.

US commander warns NATO couldn’t repel Russian Baltic invasion

NATO would currently be unable to protect the Baltics against a Russian attack, the commander of US ground forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, said in a news report Wednesday.

“Russia could take over the Baltic states faster than we would be able to defend them,” Hodges was quoted as saying in a German-language article by news weekly Die Zeit.

The general said he agreed with an assessment by military analysts who claimed that Russian forces could conquer the capitals of Baltic states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia within 36 to 60 hours.

Russia preparing for future confrontation with Western powers – Ukraine Intel

The war Russia has been waging in Ukraine is only the first phase of a possible future confrontation with the West and NATO countries in Europe, Chief of the Main Intelligence Department of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry Vadym Skibytskiy said on Espreso.TV.

Pentagon: Russian Warplanes Continue Bombing in Syria

Another day, another Russian deception: Fake withdrawal.

 

Russian warplanes continued bombing in Syria and “fewer than 10” departed the region following President Vladimir Putin’s stunning announcement that his forces had accomplished their mission and a partial withdrawal had begun, Pentagon officials said.

“We have seen some Russian aircraft depart Syria and return to Russia but we have not seen a large contingent of Russian forces” pulling out, said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. “So we’ll have to wait and see like everybody else what the Russians do in regard to President Putin’s reference to a partial withdrawal.”

Analysis: Saudi Arabia Cooking Up Strategic Move Against Russia

One can only assume, since there is no backlash from the United States or NATO in reaction to this buildup, it’s being encouraged behind the scenes by the Obama administration.

 

Saudi-Turkish threat to invade Syria points to the gap between the desire for a cease-fire agreement and reality. Judging by Russia’s conduct so far, Riyadh and Ankara might want to reexamine what could be a dangerous gamble.

The news from Munich on Friday that a cease-fire would be declared in Syria within a week was still fresh when Saudi Arabia announced its own initiative: It would send warplanes to Turkey and special ground forces to fight in Syria against the Islamic State organization. The Saudi-Turkish proposal demonstrated just how great the gap is between hopes for an end to the fighting and the situation on the ground.

Iran Serving As Russia’s ‘Ground Force’ In Syria

Iran waging ‘ethnic cleansing campaign’ in Syria

Iranian militants have begun acting as Russia’s de facto “ground force” in Syria, where they have begun waging “an ethnic cleansing campaign” in order to eradicate opposition to the embattled President Bashar al-Assad, according to leading members of Congress, defense officials, and outside experts.

A Pentagon official who was not authorized to speak on the record confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon that the United States “continue[s] to see Iranian-sponsored forces providing support to the Syrian regime in their fight against Syrian opposition forces.”

It is now believed that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces are acting as Russia’s “ground force” in Syria, helping Moscow to clear out primarily secular opposition forces battling to depose Assad, according to lawmakers and regional experts.