Russian paratroops move to Syrian border triangle

Military tensions on Syria’s borders with Iraq, Jordan and Syria jumped another notch Monday, May 21, on Day 2 of Donald Trump’s foreign trip, with the arrival of the first Russian ground troops in southern Syria for taking up position opposite US and coalition elite units.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that, as the US president was preparing to cap his two hectic days in the Saudi capital with a major speech on Islam, before flying to Jerusalem, a Russian contingent of paratroops and special forces arrived at Suweida. It linked up with the Syrian army, Hizballah and other pro-Iranian allies already poised to take on the US, Jordanian, British and Norwegian elite units for control of the strategic 600km long Syrian-Iraqi border and its key crossings.

Russia flies Chechen commandos to Syria

 

Moscow started to deploy Chechen special operations forces units to Syria this week, DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal. The troops come from elite units of the Chechen military with extensive field experience in urban warfare. Some of the units fought in eastern Ukraine in the past two years and, before that. in Chechnya for suppressing radical Islamic terror organizations linked to Al Qaeda and the Salafi movement.

The soldiers called up for the deployment in Syria were ordered to report to the Khankala base east of the Chechen capital Grozny. They are being vetted by Russian officers who determine which are suitable for the Syrian mission.

Putin planning winter war? Skiing soldiers drill with rocket launchers in freezing Russia

The snowy drills have sparked fears Mr Putin is planning a winter war (YouTube)

 

ALARMING footage of Russian soldiers skiing down snow-covered mountainsides with machine guns and rocket launchers at the ready has sparked fears Vladimir Putin is planning a winter war.

The latest display of strength from the nuclear superpower shows a terrifying fleet of soldiers performing military exercises in freezing conditions in the Republic of Tyva, in the southern part of the country.

Armed with machine guns and rocket launchers the men camouflaged in white suits are dragged behind a snowmobile before taking up positions on the ground- making them virtually invisible against the white scenery. 

Russian hands-off warning to US, Saudis, Turks amid crucial Aleppo battle

Please see the source for the video.

 

The five-year Syrian civil war, faces its most critical moment. Saturday, Feb. 6, a combined force of Syrian army and Hizballah troops and an Iraqi Shiite militia under Iranian officers, were led by Russian air and Spetsnaz (special forces) officers into pressing forward to encircle 35,000 rebels trapped in Aleppo, the country’s largest city. As they tightened the siege, 400,000 Syrian civilians were also trapped and forced to bear heavy Russian air bombardment and savage artillery fire from the ground forces closing in on the city.

U.S. Spots Russian Commandos in Syria

AP

 

Spetsnaz troops helping Syrian, Hezbollah, foreign forces near Aleppo, Latakia

Russian special operations troops are working covertly in Syria to support an array of Iranian-backed fighters, including members of the international terrorist group Hezbollah, U.S. defense officials and counterterror experts say.

The Spetsnaz commandos were detected working closely with military forces of the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, as well as several Iranian-backed groups, which even include armed Iraqis and Afghans.

Officials did not disclose the specific numbers of Spetsnaz troops in Syria but said the numbers were in the dozens.

Putin has sent the feared Spetsnaz special forces into Syria to bail out Assad

The move is a blow to Britain and America’s mission to wipe out Islamic State but maintain an opposition to brutal dictator Assad

Russia has sent its crack special troops into Syria to back up ­ President Bashar al-Assad’s bid to wipe out his opposition.

Vladimir Putin’s feared Spetsnaz unit and a covert para battalion ghosted into the war-torn country and are preparing for an all-out assault on rebels fighting the regime – including moderate units such as the western-backed Free Syrian Army.

Spetsnaz’s First World War

Train wrecks, random oil spills, bird flu outbreaks and other pestilence seeping into America today…

As a reader, you should do yourself a favor by reading this (full version at the source) and asking yourself how much of this looks eerily familiar today and what in the near-term can potentially happen. There just might be a further underlying cause and it isn’t random.

It’s long, but very much worth your time and is highly encouraged.

The entire book is also worth your read and is crucial to understanding this chapter presented. All this is written by Viktor Suvorov, a Soviet Army Cold War-era Soviet military intelligence officer who defected to the United Kingdom.

 

I was standing on the top of an enormous skyscraper in New York when I saw King Kong. The huge gorilla surveyed Manhattan triumphantly from a dizzy height. Of course I knew it wasn’t real. But there was something both frightening and symbolic in that huge black figure.

I learnt later that the gorilla was a rubber one, that it had been decided to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the showing of the first film about King Kong by creating a gigantic inflatable model of the beast and placing it high above New York. The rubber monster was hauled up and swayed about in the wind. From the technical point of view the operation had been a real triumph by the engineers and workmen who had taken part in it. But it was not an entire success. The monster turned out to be too huge, with the result that holes appeared in its body through which the air could escape. So the gigantic muscular frame quickly collapsed into a shapeless bag. They had to pump more air into it, but the harder they pumped the bigger the holes became and the quicker the air escaped from the monster. So they had to keep on pumping….

The Communist leaders have also created a rubber monster and have hauled it up to a dizzy height. The monster is known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Soviet leaders are faced with a dilemma: to expand or to decline rapidly and become a flabby sack. It is interesting to note that the Soviet Union became a superpower in the course of the most destructive war in the history of civilisation, in spite of the fact that it suffered the greatest loss of life and the greatest destruction on its own territory. It has become a military superpower and perhaps war is essential for its existence.

I do not know how or when World War Three will start. I do not know exactly how the Soviet high command plans to make use of spetsnaz in that war: the first world war in which spetsnaz will be a major contributor. I do not wish to predict the future. In this chapter I shall describe how spetsnaz will be used at the beginning of that war as I imagine it. It is not my task to describe what will happen. But I can describe what might happen.

* * *

The last month of peace, as in other wars, has an almost palpable air of crisis about it. Incidents, accidents, small disasters add to the tension. Two trains collide on a railway bridge in Cologne because the signalling system is out of order. The bridge is seriously damaged and there can be no traffic over it for the next two months.

Russia Moving Missiles, Rockets Toward Eastern Ukraine

NATO commander: Deployment of western “rotational forces” needed in Poland, Romania, the Baltics

Russia is sending additional military forces toward the border with eastern Ukraine, including units equipped with ballistic missiles, as part of Moscow’s ongoing destabilization effort in support of pro-Russian rebels.

U.S. officials with access to intelligence reports said one Russian military unit equipped with short-range ballistic missiles was detected this week near eastern Ukraine, where Russia has launched a destabilization program following its military annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in March.

The military movements coincided with the an unusual number of flights last week by Russian strategic nuclear bombers and aircraft along Europe’s northern coasts in a what NATO’s military commander called strategic “messaging” toward the West.

Germany Helped Prep Russia for War, U.S. Sources Say

It’s important to know that in the real world there is no such thing as ‘allies’, only strategic interests. Germany’s (among other nations) rising Fourth Reich has never had America’s best interests in mind for decades and its respective relationship with Russia underscores the fact. Meanwhile, the U.S. un-intelligence community remains behind the time and continiously bewildered by all sorts of events transpiring that they ‘didn’t see coming’, as if it’s a third-world nation agency.

Over the past few years, NATO countries have helped Russia revolutionize its armed forces. Now questions are arising about a German defense contractor that trained the Russian military.

The world was shocked when Russian special operations forces invaded Crimea with advanced technology, drastically improved operations, and with so much operational security that even agencies in the U.S. intelligence community didn’t see it coming. In Washington, government and congressional leaders are wondering how the Russian special operations forces got so good, so fast, without anyone noticing. Some are wondering how much help Russia had from the West.

In 2011, for example, the German defense contractor Rheinmetall signed a $140 million contract to build a combat simulation training center in Mulino, in southwest Russia, that would train 30,000 Russian combat troops per year. While the facility wasn’t officially scheduled to be completed until later this year, U.S. officials believe that Germany has been training Russian forces for years.

Tactical advantage: Russian military shows off impressive new gear — Tanks-to-troops modernization

While America was still high from Top Gun and a false sense of superiority, Russia was hard at work on gaining military advantage. This is one of many indicators that Russia has been up to something for the longest time, 2008 in this case.

If you’d like to see how early we’ve gone downhill, and it hasn’t been since the Obama administration, then it would be worth your while to view expert analyst JR Nyquist’s conclusions in 2001 on Sino-Soviet war preparations against the United States, while the United States suicides itself into the hands of hostile nations.

The world over is going back into a dangerous war cycle and America is going into war unprepared.

Elite Russian troops are displaying a new arsenal of body armor, individual weapons, armor-piercing ammunition and collar radios — a menu of essential gear that gives them a big tactical advantage against a lesser-equipped Ukrainian army.

If President Vladimir Putin orders an invasion, the new-generation body armor, in particular, would provide exceptional protection against small arms if Russian troops go street by street to capture Kiev and other cities.

“What we saw and what was dangled in front of the West was a clear indication that Putin is on a roll,” retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales said. “It just seems to me from watching the films that their arrows are pointing up and ours are sadly pointing down.”

Weapons specialists such as Gen. Scales have been studying images of Spetsnaz, Russia’s ubiquitous special forces, and airborne troops since they conquered the Crimea region and mobilized to strike eastern Ukraine.

What they see are the fruits of a modernization plan begun in 2008, not just in tanks and vehicles but all the way down to the individual warrior. Russia now has the world’s third-highest defense budget, at over $70 billion.

This Is Not a Test: Emergency Broadcast Systems Proved Hackable

As was written in a book ahead of it’s time (1987), “Spetsnaz. The Story Behind the Soviet SAS”, has now come to fruition.

The following is a sample from the book:

I do not know how or when World War Three will start. I do not know exactly how the Soviet high command plans to make use of spetsnaz in that war: the first world war in which spetsnaz will be a major contributor. I do not wish to predict the future. In this chapter I shall describe how spetsnaz will be used at the beginning of that war as I imagine it. It is not my task to describe what will happen. But I can describe what might happen.

The last month of peace, as in other wars, has an almost palpable air of crisis about it. Incidents, accidents, small disasters add to the tension. Two trains collide on a railway bridge in Cologne because the signalling system is out of order. The bridge is seriously damaged and there can be no traffic over it for the next two months.

…

On 12 August, at 0558 local time, a van comes to a halt on the vast empty parking lot in front of a supermarket in Washington. Three men open the doors of the van, roll out the fuselage of a light aircraft and attach its wings. A minute later its motor bursts into life. The plane takes off and disappears into the sky. It has no pilot. It is controlled by radio with the aid of very simple instruments, only slightly more complicated than those used by model aircraft enthusiasts. The plane climbs to about 200 metres and immediately begins to descend in the direction of the White House. A minute later a mighty explosion shakes the capital of the United States. The screaming of sirens on police cars, fire engines and ambulances fills the city.

Three minutes later a second plane sweeps across the centre of the city and there is a second explosion in the place where the White House once stood. The second plane has taken off from a section of highway under construction, and has a quite different control system. Two cars with radio beacons in them have been left earlier in the middle of the city. The beacons have switched on automatically a few seconds before the plane’s take-off. The automatic pilot is guided by the two beacons and starts to descend according to a previously worked-out trajectory. The second plane has been sent off by a second group operating independently of the first one.

It was a simple plan: if the first plane did not destroy the White House the second would. If the first plane did destroy the White House then a few minutes later all the heads of the Washington police would be near where the explosion had taken place. The second plane would kill many of them.

At 0606 all radio and television channels interrupt their normal programmes and report the destruction of the White House and the possible death of the President of the United States.

At 0613 the programme known as Good Morning America is interrupted and the Vice-President of the USA appears. He announces a staggering piece of news: there has been an attempt to seize power in the country on the part of the leaders of the armed forces. The President of the United States has been killed. The Vice-President appeals to everyone in the armed forces to remain where they are and not to carry out any orders from senior officers for the next twenty-four hours, because the orders would be issued by traitors shortly to be removed from their posts and arrested.

Soon afterwards many television channels across the country cease transmitting….

Article:

Several models of Emergency Alert System decoders, used to break into TV and radio broadcasts to announce public safety warnings, have vulnerabilities that would allow hackers to hijack them and deliver fake messages to the public, according to an announcement by a security firm on Monday.

The vulnerabilities included a private root SSH key that was distributed in publicly available firmware images that would have allowed an attacker with SSH access to a device to log in with root privileges and issue fake alerts or disable the system.

Spetsnaz 2: Special operations forces set for combat

Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov recently said that the Ministry of Defence has formed – and is ready to use – the Special Operations Forces; military units trained to perform combat missions both in Russia and abroad. He said the decision was based on the leading nations’ experience in forming, training and using special operations units, including the best-known of them all – the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM).

Such units have completely altered the very concept of special forces and their operating methods. The key difference is that command identifies only the scene of operations, whereas special operations units act autonomously and define their objectives independently in order to accomplish the ultimate mission. They are actively engaged with space and tactical reconnaissance units and involve Army, Air Force and Navy units.

Is Russia Itching for War with Georgia?

A few things to consider and reflect upon after reading the article:

• Russia more than likely manufactured a justification for invading Georgia in 2008.

This is evidenced by Spetsnaz meddling in domestic affairs since 2004 and likely the prior years as well. The same measures were taken up by the Soviet Union prior to World War II and its respective invasion of Poland. They were labeled fascist for years by Soviet propaganda to groom/ready the population, and in order to gain both domestic and foreign support for nefarious reasons: the conquest of Europe it has always yearned for.

There is also a larger pattern to Soviet measures taken throughout history. Another such example would be Chechnya, which brings about and harbors most of Russia’s terrorism troubles. However, how Moscow deals with this thorn on its side is stark in contrast compared to Georgia. Like Georgia, the country could’ve been invaded, slaughtered and wiped off the map long ago and several times over but it serves a different purpose: Chechnya is (indefinitely) Russia’s “playground” for military application. It is a platform for military preparation and readiness.

Keeping in mind the bigger picture, the 2008 invasion wasn’t a Soviet “playground” for weapons testing and military training exercises. Instead, the Georgian invasion was most likely over the strategic energy corridor that would’ve given Europe energy independence it was seeking with help from the United States — not a perceived (and manufactured) viable threat from a tiny nation with under five million citizens.

• Russia wants a war with Iran.

As mentioned with the energy corridor in Caucasus region, an attack on Iran would create a severe disruption in the transportation of oil supplies. Without a doubt, and being that Russia sits atop a fifth of the world’s known reserves of natural gas, the Soviet strategists would love to see their country become rich overnight via skyrocketing energy prices. Simultaneously, this would likely break the Western world as imports would cease and as it already holds reluctancy in utilizing the already-available resources in its very own backyard (Canada, Gulf of Mexico, Florida, etc…). This would likely cause the result the Soviets have been longing for, for decades: the shift in world power balances and a newly Sino-Soviet centric ideological world paradigm.

• War is inevitable.

As the saying goes: Peace is a prelude to war. There are no signs of military preparations/mobilizations ceasing between all parties involved. Iran continues along the path of nuclear arms production, ratcheting up conventional military provocations and threatens to wipe Israel off the map on a weekly basis. Israel has repeatedly said a nuclear armed Iran will not be tolerated.

There is also a high likelihood of a preemptive attack on Iran by Israel between now and the US Presidential elections in November. Time is running out and Israel sees itself in a position where it cannot afford to ‘wait and see’ if a pro-Israel Romney might win. Meanwhile, it cannot afford to have once more a reluctant and unstable partner in Barack Obama for another four years, who noteably has visited almost every other country in the Middle East — besides Israel. Another four years of Obama would keep them pinned and more susceptible to continiously growing military threats from almost every direction in the region. Therefore, the likelihood of an attack beforehand rather than afterward is higher.

Additionally, the United States is in too weak of a position both politically and economically. Henceforth, it lacks the will to muster a meaningful response as was seen in 2008 under George W Bush. A sympathetic sold-out media along with Soviet propagandists will certainly make sure that all eyes and attention remained focused on Israeli/US “aggressors” while Georgia, and possibly the Caucasus region permanently return into the old Soviet Union fold and sphere of influence — another long-sought objective.

Having said this, look for the re-invasion of Georgia to happen and coincide with a war against Iran.

No one expected Russia to become a major campaign issue in 2008 when it went to war with Georgia, ripping away the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Now, there are signs that Russia is itching for a rematch that would finish off the pro-American Georgian regime led by Mikheil Saakashvili.

…

This development comes while Russia is preparing for a possible strike on Iran. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin explained, “Iran is our neighbor. If Iran is involved in any military action, it’s a direct threat to our security.” Reportedly, Russia has drawn up plans to send forces to Armenia in such an event, which requires going through Georgia, toppling Saakashvili on the way.

In 2008, Russia’s annual Kavkaz exercises were used as a cover to deploy and train the forces that invaded Georgia the next month. This year’s exercises are to take place in September. Russia announced that Spetsnaz units will be sent to the North Caucasus region for the exercises and airborne assault forces and attack helicopters will deploy to Base 102 in Gyumri, Armenia. One report claims that the families of soldiers at the base have already been evacuated.

It is quite possible that Russia will provide assistance to the Iranian regime from Armenia in the event of a conflict. After all, Saddam Hussein awarded medals to former Soviet advisors for helping him to prepare for the 2003 invasion. Russian Spetsnaz units were deployed to Iraq and are suspected of having helped cleanse the country of documents and incriminating materials. The Russians also gave Saddam Hussein details about the U.S. war plan, retrieved through a spy at CENTCOM. Russia continues to arm Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and deployed an “anti-terror” unit to assist him in March.

There are also strategic and economic benefits for Russia and Iran if Georgia is invaded. Europe gets about 1 million barrels of oil per day from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan through a pipeline that goes from Baku to Tbilisi, Georgia to Ceyhan, Turkey. It goes around Russian and Iranian territory. In the 2008 war, Russian aircraft were witnessed bombing it. By invading Georgia, Russia gets control of that critical pipeline.

The Russians have sought the overthrow of Saakashvili ever since the 2008 war and has consistently claimed that he’s sponsoring jihadist terrorism to justify future action. One Russian lieutenant that was interviewed during the last war said, “It [South Ossetia] will be Russia. And Georgia used to be Russian, too.”

…

In August 2009, Russia accused Georgia of orchestrating an Al-Qaeda suicide bombing in Ingushetia. Russia immediately cast suspicion on Georgia after the March 29, 2010 subway bombings in Moscow. The Deputy Foreign Minister said that Saakashvili is “unpredictable” and could strike at any moment.

Hypocritically, it’s Russia that’s been sponsoring the covert attacks. A secret U.S. intelligence report from 2007 reveals that the Russian GRU has been behind a number of violent “active measures” in Georgia since 2004, including the killing of Georgian cops, a 2005 car bombing, two attacks on the Georgian-Russian pipeline in 2006, the sabotage of a vital power line and the arming of separatists. Russia was also responsible for an explosion next to the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi on September 22, 2010.

Full article: Is Russia Itching for War with Georgia? (Frontpage Mag)