Russian involvement in Syrian crisis
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pmaitra
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Both, Sukhoi-22M as well as Sukhoi-25. I see a lot of 55 or 57 mm rockets being fired.
gadeshi
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I see no 57mm S-5S/K but 80mm S-8KOM and 122mm S-13.
Отправлено с моего XT1080 через Tapatalk
bhramos
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In Syria, a tank is seen, a participant of the Parade on Red Square
. No one is surprised by the photos of the T-90A tank of the Syrian army. There are hundreds of them on the web, no less than video materials. However, it was this image that attracted the attention of military experts.
No, not because this tank, allegedly, only recently arrived in Syria. The fact is that before us is a fighting car and at the same time a participant in solemn events on Red Square.
This is evidenced by a special sensor installed on the dynamic protection unit (according to the famous tank historian Alexei Khlopotov, this is a passive microwave transponder for automatic identification of objects). On ordinary T-90A, such a device was not mounted.
Earlier, such "ceremonial" "nineties" in Syria were not noticed.
Despite the fact that the terrorist group banned in Russia has suffered a crushing defeat, it is too early to relax. The enemy can present very dangerous surprises. Worthy answer to them just help tanks from Nizhny Tagil.
Lev Romanov
Photo: twitter.com/waelalhussaini , Alexey Khlopotov
. No one is surprised by the photos of the T-90A tank of the Syrian army. There are hundreds of them on the web, no less than video materials. However, it was this image that attracted the attention of military experts.
No, not because this tank, allegedly, only recently arrived in Syria. The fact is that before us is a fighting car and at the same time a participant in solemn events on Red Square.
This is evidenced by a special sensor installed on the dynamic protection unit (according to the famous tank historian Alexei Khlopotov, this is a passive microwave transponder for automatic identification of objects). On ordinary T-90A, such a device was not mounted.
Earlier, such "ceremonial" "nineties" in Syria were not noticed.
Despite the fact that the terrorist group banned in Russia has suffered a crushing defeat, it is too early to relax. The enemy can present very dangerous surprises. Worthy answer to them just help tanks from Nizhny Tagil.
Lev Romanov
Photo: twitter.com/waelalhussaini , Alexey Khlopotov
bhramos
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General Suhel Hassan with Russian colleagues in the north of the province of Ham.
December 22, 2017
2S3 Acacia 105th brigade SAA
Syrian army fighter and S-23 gun.
Soldier of the 14th Defense Ministry (GRU) of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
T-72M with artisan trellises screens of the 4th Panzer Division of the SAA
South-eastern outskirts of the province of Idlib. Syria
T-90A in Abu-Kemal.
Province of Deer-es-Zor, Syria
December 22, 2017
2S3 Acacia 105th brigade SAA
Syrian army fighter and S-23 gun.
Soldier of the 14th Defense Ministry (GRU) of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
T-72M with artisan trellises screens of the 4th Panzer Division of the SAA
South-eastern outskirts of the province of Idlib. Syria
T-90A in Abu-Kemal.
Province of Deer-es-Zor, Syria
bhramos
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A big interview with Wagner's PMC members.
Part-2
DEYR-EZ-ZOR: SYRIAN STALINGRAD
Take Akerbat and the soldiers of PMCs said: it's time to get home. They already changed into a civilian, and suddenly the order: by cars in full equipment. We traveled in the desert for about seven hours, drove about three hundred miles to the east and found ourselves near the town of Deir-ez-Zor. There were two Russian PMC brigades that had already crossed the Euphrates on the pontoons when the Deir-ez-Zor operation was being unblocked. We were tasked with liberating the neighboring island from the Igilovites. About two months, this task was carried out, the main losses were incurred in this place, mainly undermined by mines.
The reports of RIA Novosti then said: "The advance detachments of the Syrian army broke through the three-year blockade of Deir-ez-Zor on September 5 and launched an offensive on the eastern outskirts of the city. Having broken through the encirclement of the air force base, and after knocking out terrorists from strategic heights in the southwest, government troops reached the western bank of the Euphrates River and forced it, thereby ousting the detachments of terrorists towards the Iraqi border and creating a ring around the occupied by the terrorist group "Islamic State" quarters of Deir-ez-Zor. "
Military expert Viktor Baranets commented on the lifting of the blockade with Deir-ez-Zor: "The city of Deir ez Zor is of strategic importance for the further actions of terrorists in Syria. If it is taken, it will be a strategic defeat of the militants, and this will be for them about the same as in 1945 for Hitler's Germany. Deir-ez-Zor is of the same importance for IGIL. Defeat in Deir ez Zor will mean that the terrorists will not provide active combat resistance. It will be for them not only military, but also moral defeat, and before the whole world. "
- What is the blockade of Deir-ez-Zor - this must be understood again in the eastern, - said Sergei. - All those three years that the blockade continued, cars with products and goods of consumer goods passed unhindered. No one from hunger
suffered. They even joked that the Syrians say: we've been at war here for three years, we've fought, the Russians have come - and the war has begun.
- And the lawlessness began, - Gennady laughed.
Meanwhile, according to Sergei, while the spirits kept the defense in Al-Shaire, the Kurds sent here by the Americans seized the oil fields. At the end of September, the Igilovs retreated along the flank lines, and again the Russian PMCs had to return to "squeeze out the oil fields."
"At the top, apparently, we agreed, and the Kurds moved a little," says Sergei. - Judging by the inscriptions on the oil rigs, some of them belonged to the Europeans, some to the Canadians. Canadians lost the most.
At the end of October the term of the trip of the men of the Wagner PMC was over. In those days the Igilovites cut one of the two main roads connecting the east with the west of Syria. They were taken for a longer time - about 800 kilometers. It was without adventures.
Losses
During six months of business trip, the casualties of one brigade amounted to about 40 fatalities ("two hundredth") and about 100 wounded ("three hundredth"). Another brigade was more fortunate: they lost about 20 killed and 70 wounded. And in the third brigade, only about 50 killed in the first two weeks. Most died when the blockade of Deir-ez-Zor was lifted. Thus, a tenth of the personnel died, a fifth of them were wounded.
MILITARY EQUIPMENT
"The losses would have been much less," says Sergei, "if the supply of the PMC grouping was not so awful, it's just an aha-o-ov. Broken armored cars, in five days lost five trucks, there was nothing to even transport personnel. And the losses from this are high ... and all - got up! Collapse. No one is going anywhere, God forbid to take the wounded. And experience says that it is high time to transplant soldiers to armored cars, calculated no more than 10 people. Although a year ago, the equipment was decent - and weapons, and equipment.
"It's just a beautiful TV picture: in the desert, the bars are in a row, followed by BMPs, helicopters are circling them," Stepan says. - In fact, there were very few techniques. Our "armada" moved partly on foot, and a part - on KamAZ and "Ural". If the ATGM gets into the truck, the losses are, of course, huge. And this economy of our military plushkins turned into huge losses. Some of the leaders
responsible for the military supply of the brigades apparently reported to the top how much everything had been saved. And here on three brigades, that is fifteen hundred people, gave out only five night sights!
"What about spirits?" - says Stepan. - For example, 30-40 people usually sit on positions, and so they get two or three night sights. When the spirits go to a night attack, they are seen with five in five halves "assaults", the rest do not see a damn thing. Fathers-commanders say: you shoot outbreaks. And for this you need to stick your head out of hiding. And get into the night sight of the igilovtsa, who will not fool like a fool, immediately shoots - and you will not have time to notice flashes. So it turns out: spirits see everything, and most of the "assaults" are blind. And because the losses are huge.
- So how should it be? - says Sergey. - As in the special forces: each fighter has a night sight and one of the three is a thermal imaging sight. And so - in the slaughter to lead people. But the management of PMC may have a lot of money, but it is not going to buy new equipment. I saw with my own eyes a unit armed with trilinear, Nagans, Degtyarev machine guns, even the "Maxim" machine guns really were. And my first time was a three line. Body armor vests taking Kabul. Tanks are all "prize", that is, captured from the Arabs, some resemble a colander. When he was indignant before the authorities, he heard: "Darling, why are you in the fairy tale? What they gave, so fight and ".
MILITARY TRAINING
My interlocutors divided the forces that fought on the side of Assad, according to their fighting qualities in three categories. The lowest place is occupied by the Syrians, the middle one by the Fatimids (as the militants from Afghanistan called the Palestinians), and the Palestinians, the upper ones - Russians.
"One day the Fatimid detachment seized a bridgehead, then relocated, and in their place the government troops stepped in and immediately raised their flag," Sergey said. - And our experienced fighter, who visited Syria five times, predicted: if in the evening the Syrian flag appears over the positions, then in the morning there will be the flag of IGIL. We took it as a joke. And in the morning they woke up from a furious stamping: 300-400 Syrian soldiers fled with a cry: "Tank Igilovsky has arrived!" And indeed: the positions of government troops have already been raised by a black banner.
"The Russians are unsurpassed fighters, especially on the defensive," Stepan says. - Nobody could withstand our attacks, no one. In six months, not one enemy could withstand the attacks of "assaults". Neither in Akerbat, nor in the Deir-ez-Zor area.
"Give us the technique of IGIL," Sergei added, "would free up all of Syria in two weeks." There was an impression that no one wants to win this war - neither ISIG, nor the Syrian army.
"And even the fatimids are equipped normally," Gennady said. - I myself saw how they drove in their bikes in the desert of "jihad" (the so-called Igilov pickup with weapons, differs from "shahid" - the same car, but stuffed with explosives). They overwhelmed this "jihad" as there is nothing to do. And is it possible to fight with such technique ?! Our penthers go on foot, along with the infantry, their three: one carries the installation, two - one rocket (each weighing 25 kilograms). IGIL pturschikov also three, but they are on two motorcycles. On one motorcycle - installation and two people, on the other - the third with two missiles. Shmalnuli - and a minute later disappeared.
"Personally, I saw how the ATPM in three minutes blew up three cars - an APC and two trucks," says Sergei.
"The level of training of the Syrian troops is not just zero, but, it can be said, negative," Gennady said. - For example, out of 60 units of armored vehicles, brought, as already said, to the area of military operations, about 20 were in the hands of the Igilov spirit-men who were in Akerbat. In general, tanks in Syria are a passing prize. Even there is a joke on this topic: Russia supplies tanks to Syrians, Syrians pass them to IGIL, Russians come, select tanks from Igilovites and get a premium for it. Again, we give the Syrians - and it all begins again, the tank circulates in Syria until it is burned.
"Personally, I saw how the Syrian special forces went into reconnaissance," recalls Sergei. - Gone are about seven kilometers and started yelling on the radio, that they ran out of water, several people were struck (and this is the indigenous people of Syria). And they returned without completing the assignment. The Russians even had to endure the Arabs hit by the sun on themselves. I agree with Gennady: zero level of training.
"The whole of Syria is about two Moscow regions, the greater part is the desert," Stepan concludes. "It's enough to release several enclaves and a valley - that's all!" And let the spirits of the steppe hares roam the desert as much as they like. Work - for a month or two, but no one needs it. Generals earn money on the war, tanks and weapons are written off, IGIL, with all of them, is trading almost officially.
PERSONAL COMPOSITION of "WAGNER"
- Despite the fact that many soldiers of the PMC have served in the army and special forces, I will not be mistaken if I say that 90% do not understand where they are going, - says Sergey. - The desire to make money otshibaet brain
completely. Therefore, hitting a real mess, they say that they came here not to perish, but to earn. They are called "five hundredth", that is, deserters and refuseniks. They are immediately sent to rigging brigades, that is, to loaders of shells, etc.
"And in life those who came to Syria are mostly losers," Gennady says. - As a rule, former cops, cons and military. About 40% of the personnel were detained for serious crimes - murders, robberies, etc. The militants of the PMS even greet each other so much: "Hello, losers!" It is noteworthy that many months before the business trip, and even for years, they thumped without drying out. In Syria, it is forbidden to drink, the heads are slightly enlightened, they give a pledge for the rest of their life. They return to Russia with a million in their pockets and break in such a peak, in a month they crawl to the base without pants.
PROCESSING OF "GENTLEMEN OF GOOD LUCK"
A year or two ago, according to Sergei, the soldiers of the "Wagner" PMC earned 310-350 thousand rubles a month (240 thousand - salary plus 3 thousand a day - combat). In the spring of this year there were 300 thousand (with a salary of 220 thousand), and those who arrived in the autumn earned an average of 200-210 thousand (the salary dropped to 150 thousand).
- What is the reason for the fall in earnings? - asked Stepan. - I think with the fact that they steal everything, steal everything. At some point people lose their heads and start stealing without a twinge of conscience. We suspect that the tops pay still decently, but just below invent different restrictions that are associated with the salary. For example, in the contract there is a clause where it is said that a business trip is considered to be long since the fourth month and an additional one thousand rubles is paid for each day. When someone reminded the head of this item, he received such an answer in a very relaxed form: "Oborzely? You already get so much! "
- And insurance? - I ask. - What amount is paid in case of death?
"You see," says Sergei, "according to one rumor, three and a half million, on the other five million. Personally, in my agreement on this I did not see anything. Although he could see: the contract is multi-page, and besides, the time trouble principle works. It says that you agree that you can not be taken out in the form of a corpse. Also, according to rumors, 50 thousand are paid for a minor wound, for a heavier one - up to 300 thousand plus treatment. They say that the treatment is good - in military hospitals in Rostov-on-Don, Kislovodsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, etc. Good conditions,
highly qualified doctors. But there is one principle: no disabilities.
"I have an ambivalent attitude toward these private military companies," Stepan adds. - On the one hand, they deceive, and it's insulting. And on the other hand, if we look at the situation from the outside, the PMC withdraws unnecessary elements from civilian life (literally, the fighter spoke about his comrades, and therefore about himself.) A.Ch.
As it turned out later, Sergei brought a half million rubles from Syria. I dealt debts, bought a night sight, binoculars, warm clothes, other equipment for small things. Money was left to spare, only to get from Moscow to Krasnodar.
- What work did you have in Syria? Protect the oil fields, plants. They will not be thrown into the attacks any more.
Part-2
DEYR-EZ-ZOR: SYRIAN STALINGRAD
Take Akerbat and the soldiers of PMCs said: it's time to get home. They already changed into a civilian, and suddenly the order: by cars in full equipment. We traveled in the desert for about seven hours, drove about three hundred miles to the east and found ourselves near the town of Deir-ez-Zor. There were two Russian PMC brigades that had already crossed the Euphrates on the pontoons when the Deir-ez-Zor operation was being unblocked. We were tasked with liberating the neighboring island from the Igilovites. About two months, this task was carried out, the main losses were incurred in this place, mainly undermined by mines.
The reports of RIA Novosti then said: "The advance detachments of the Syrian army broke through the three-year blockade of Deir-ez-Zor on September 5 and launched an offensive on the eastern outskirts of the city. Having broken through the encirclement of the air force base, and after knocking out terrorists from strategic heights in the southwest, government troops reached the western bank of the Euphrates River and forced it, thereby ousting the detachments of terrorists towards the Iraqi border and creating a ring around the occupied by the terrorist group "Islamic State" quarters of Deir-ez-Zor. "
Military expert Viktor Baranets commented on the lifting of the blockade with Deir-ez-Zor: "The city of Deir ez Zor is of strategic importance for the further actions of terrorists in Syria. If it is taken, it will be a strategic defeat of the militants, and this will be for them about the same as in 1945 for Hitler's Germany. Deir-ez-Zor is of the same importance for IGIL. Defeat in Deir ez Zor will mean that the terrorists will not provide active combat resistance. It will be for them not only military, but also moral defeat, and before the whole world. "
- What is the blockade of Deir-ez-Zor - this must be understood again in the eastern, - said Sergei. - All those three years that the blockade continued, cars with products and goods of consumer goods passed unhindered. No one from hunger
suffered. They even joked that the Syrians say: we've been at war here for three years, we've fought, the Russians have come - and the war has begun.
- And the lawlessness began, - Gennady laughed.
Meanwhile, according to Sergei, while the spirits kept the defense in Al-Shaire, the Kurds sent here by the Americans seized the oil fields. At the end of September, the Igilovs retreated along the flank lines, and again the Russian PMCs had to return to "squeeze out the oil fields."
"At the top, apparently, we agreed, and the Kurds moved a little," says Sergei. - Judging by the inscriptions on the oil rigs, some of them belonged to the Europeans, some to the Canadians. Canadians lost the most.
At the end of October the term of the trip of the men of the Wagner PMC was over. In those days the Igilovites cut one of the two main roads connecting the east with the west of Syria. They were taken for a longer time - about 800 kilometers. It was without adventures.
Losses
During six months of business trip, the casualties of one brigade amounted to about 40 fatalities ("two hundredth") and about 100 wounded ("three hundredth"). Another brigade was more fortunate: they lost about 20 killed and 70 wounded. And in the third brigade, only about 50 killed in the first two weeks. Most died when the blockade of Deir-ez-Zor was lifted. Thus, a tenth of the personnel died, a fifth of them were wounded.
MILITARY EQUIPMENT
"The losses would have been much less," says Sergei, "if the supply of the PMC grouping was not so awful, it's just an aha-o-ov. Broken armored cars, in five days lost five trucks, there was nothing to even transport personnel. And the losses from this are high ... and all - got up! Collapse. No one is going anywhere, God forbid to take the wounded. And experience says that it is high time to transplant soldiers to armored cars, calculated no more than 10 people. Although a year ago, the equipment was decent - and weapons, and equipment.
"It's just a beautiful TV picture: in the desert, the bars are in a row, followed by BMPs, helicopters are circling them," Stepan says. - In fact, there were very few techniques. Our "armada" moved partly on foot, and a part - on KamAZ and "Ural". If the ATGM gets into the truck, the losses are, of course, huge. And this economy of our military plushkins turned into huge losses. Some of the leaders
responsible for the military supply of the brigades apparently reported to the top how much everything had been saved. And here on three brigades, that is fifteen hundred people, gave out only five night sights!
"What about spirits?" - says Stepan. - For example, 30-40 people usually sit on positions, and so they get two or three night sights. When the spirits go to a night attack, they are seen with five in five halves "assaults", the rest do not see a damn thing. Fathers-commanders say: you shoot outbreaks. And for this you need to stick your head out of hiding. And get into the night sight of the igilovtsa, who will not fool like a fool, immediately shoots - and you will not have time to notice flashes. So it turns out: spirits see everything, and most of the "assaults" are blind. And because the losses are huge.
- So how should it be? - says Sergey. - As in the special forces: each fighter has a night sight and one of the three is a thermal imaging sight. And so - in the slaughter to lead people. But the management of PMC may have a lot of money, but it is not going to buy new equipment. I saw with my own eyes a unit armed with trilinear, Nagans, Degtyarev machine guns, even the "Maxim" machine guns really were. And my first time was a three line. Body armor vests taking Kabul. Tanks are all "prize", that is, captured from the Arabs, some resemble a colander. When he was indignant before the authorities, he heard: "Darling, why are you in the fairy tale? What they gave, so fight and ".
MILITARY TRAINING
My interlocutors divided the forces that fought on the side of Assad, according to their fighting qualities in three categories. The lowest place is occupied by the Syrians, the middle one by the Fatimids (as the militants from Afghanistan called the Palestinians), and the Palestinians, the upper ones - Russians.
"One day the Fatimid detachment seized a bridgehead, then relocated, and in their place the government troops stepped in and immediately raised their flag," Sergey said. - And our experienced fighter, who visited Syria five times, predicted: if in the evening the Syrian flag appears over the positions, then in the morning there will be the flag of IGIL. We took it as a joke. And in the morning they woke up from a furious stamping: 300-400 Syrian soldiers fled with a cry: "Tank Igilovsky has arrived!" And indeed: the positions of government troops have already been raised by a black banner.
"The Russians are unsurpassed fighters, especially on the defensive," Stepan says. - Nobody could withstand our attacks, no one. In six months, not one enemy could withstand the attacks of "assaults". Neither in Akerbat, nor in the Deir-ez-Zor area.
"Give us the technique of IGIL," Sergei added, "would free up all of Syria in two weeks." There was an impression that no one wants to win this war - neither ISIG, nor the Syrian army.
"And even the fatimids are equipped normally," Gennady said. - I myself saw how they drove in their bikes in the desert of "jihad" (the so-called Igilov pickup with weapons, differs from "shahid" - the same car, but stuffed with explosives). They overwhelmed this "jihad" as there is nothing to do. And is it possible to fight with such technique ?! Our penthers go on foot, along with the infantry, their three: one carries the installation, two - one rocket (each weighing 25 kilograms). IGIL pturschikov also three, but they are on two motorcycles. On one motorcycle - installation and two people, on the other - the third with two missiles. Shmalnuli - and a minute later disappeared.
"Personally, I saw how the ATPM in three minutes blew up three cars - an APC and two trucks," says Sergei.
"The level of training of the Syrian troops is not just zero, but, it can be said, negative," Gennady said. - For example, out of 60 units of armored vehicles, brought, as already said, to the area of military operations, about 20 were in the hands of the Igilov spirit-men who were in Akerbat. In general, tanks in Syria are a passing prize. Even there is a joke on this topic: Russia supplies tanks to Syrians, Syrians pass them to IGIL, Russians come, select tanks from Igilovites and get a premium for it. Again, we give the Syrians - and it all begins again, the tank circulates in Syria until it is burned.
"Personally, I saw how the Syrian special forces went into reconnaissance," recalls Sergei. - Gone are about seven kilometers and started yelling on the radio, that they ran out of water, several people were struck (and this is the indigenous people of Syria). And they returned without completing the assignment. The Russians even had to endure the Arabs hit by the sun on themselves. I agree with Gennady: zero level of training.
"The whole of Syria is about two Moscow regions, the greater part is the desert," Stepan concludes. "It's enough to release several enclaves and a valley - that's all!" And let the spirits of the steppe hares roam the desert as much as they like. Work - for a month or two, but no one needs it. Generals earn money on the war, tanks and weapons are written off, IGIL, with all of them, is trading almost officially.
PERSONAL COMPOSITION of "WAGNER"
- Despite the fact that many soldiers of the PMC have served in the army and special forces, I will not be mistaken if I say that 90% do not understand where they are going, - says Sergey. - The desire to make money otshibaet brain
completely. Therefore, hitting a real mess, they say that they came here not to perish, but to earn. They are called "five hundredth", that is, deserters and refuseniks. They are immediately sent to rigging brigades, that is, to loaders of shells, etc.
"And in life those who came to Syria are mostly losers," Gennady says. - As a rule, former cops, cons and military. About 40% of the personnel were detained for serious crimes - murders, robberies, etc. The militants of the PMS even greet each other so much: "Hello, losers!" It is noteworthy that many months before the business trip, and even for years, they thumped without drying out. In Syria, it is forbidden to drink, the heads are slightly enlightened, they give a pledge for the rest of their life. They return to Russia with a million in their pockets and break in such a peak, in a month they crawl to the base without pants.
PROCESSING OF "GENTLEMEN OF GOOD LUCK"
A year or two ago, according to Sergei, the soldiers of the "Wagner" PMC earned 310-350 thousand rubles a month (240 thousand - salary plus 3 thousand a day - combat). In the spring of this year there were 300 thousand (with a salary of 220 thousand), and those who arrived in the autumn earned an average of 200-210 thousand (the salary dropped to 150 thousand).
- What is the reason for the fall in earnings? - asked Stepan. - I think with the fact that they steal everything, steal everything. At some point people lose their heads and start stealing without a twinge of conscience. We suspect that the tops pay still decently, but just below invent different restrictions that are associated with the salary. For example, in the contract there is a clause where it is said that a business trip is considered to be long since the fourth month and an additional one thousand rubles is paid for each day. When someone reminded the head of this item, he received such an answer in a very relaxed form: "Oborzely? You already get so much! "
- And insurance? - I ask. - What amount is paid in case of death?
"You see," says Sergei, "according to one rumor, three and a half million, on the other five million. Personally, in my agreement on this I did not see anything. Although he could see: the contract is multi-page, and besides, the time trouble principle works. It says that you agree that you can not be taken out in the form of a corpse. Also, according to rumors, 50 thousand are paid for a minor wound, for a heavier one - up to 300 thousand plus treatment. They say that the treatment is good - in military hospitals in Rostov-on-Don, Kislovodsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, etc. Good conditions,
highly qualified doctors. But there is one principle: no disabilities.
"I have an ambivalent attitude toward these private military companies," Stepan adds. - On the one hand, they deceive, and it's insulting. And on the other hand, if we look at the situation from the outside, the PMC withdraws unnecessary elements from civilian life (literally, the fighter spoke about his comrades, and therefore about himself.) A.Ch.
As it turned out later, Sergei brought a half million rubles from Syria. I dealt debts, bought a night sight, binoculars, warm clothes, other equipment for small things. Money was left to spare, only to get from Moscow to Krasnodar.
- What work did you have in Syria? Protect the oil fields, plants. They will not be thrown into the attacks any more.
Last edited:
bhramos
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A big interview with Wagner's PMC members.
Part 1.
In the compartment of the company train "Quiet Flows the Don," which left early in November 2017 from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow, they washed a strange medal. In this award, the symbols of the hostile epochs - the Prussian Iron Cross, the Soviet five-pointed star and the White Guard Order of the Ice Camp - were clearly visible. Three men of different ages, about 20, 35 and 45 years old, did not fall into a drunken courage; awards imperceptibly disappeared somewhere so quickly that he did not have time to ask about the origin of the strange medal. And yet, the path was not distant, and little by little, first from scraps of phrases, then, when there were common tastes and memories, a whole picture began to form from frank conversations.
Three men returned after a six-month mission to Syria. We went on a contract with a well-known private military company (PMC) "Wagner", although the document, of course, does not have this call-alias or the name of its owner - Dmitry Utkin, who, incidentally, in the same November, was headed by the restaurant holding Eugenia Prigogine, also known as the "chief cook of the Kremlin." The official name of the organization that hired them to declare flatly refused, saying only that this name is constantly changing. The legal address is located in the Moscow region of Krasnogorsk, on the Ilinsky highway, near the military town of Pavshino. The duration of the contract is from three to six months. The contract is signed on the basis of PMCs in Molkino. The future soldier reads a multi-page document, signs, and he stays in the company's office.
On December 6, 2017, the Interfax news agency will officially inform, with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, that "Syria has been completely liberated from terrorists, all the gang formations of IGIL have been destroyed, more than a thousand populated areas have been liberated and the main communications have been unblocked." But only in these victorious relations does not say a word about the contribution made by ordinary soldiers of private military companies.
PLACE OF COLLECTION: BASE "MOLKINO"
The 10th separate brigade of the special purpose GRU (military unit 51532) is located in the area of the Molkino farm in the Krasnodar Territory. It is closely adjacent to the base of the "Wagner" PMC. The fighters came here from all parts of the country. First I had to undergo a medical commission and various admissions tests.
"The medical board was, but the selection is more visual: the arms and legs are in place - and forward," says Sergei. - They took everything in a row, because PMC carried great losses in Syria. Still needed to run 3 km, wring 40-50 times (this was rated as "good" and "excellent"). Many did not pass these standards, but were enrolled.
A much more serious test was a lie detector. Every candidate passes the polygraph. For example, out of eight people in the group in which Gennady was, only two, including himself, successfully passed the lie detector. What were cut off by others, which lies sought psychologists PMC, Gennady still does not represent. But, in his opinion, this selection did not exactly concern the criminal past of the candidates.
The contracted personnel was distributed among the "brigades". They were not army brigades in their traditional form, the composition of the PMC brigades consisted of only 300 to 400 people, depending on the tasks that they faced.
FLIGHT ROSTS-ON-DON - DAMASK
From the international airport of Rostov-on-Don flew on April 25, 2017, the usual charter flight. They did not put a visa in the passport, the border guards stamped only the mark of departure (and on return - another mark about the arrival). The Syrian border service does not appear in documents at all. In total, a hundred and fifty soldiers of PMC flew in the Boeing, in a day or two the second half of the "brigade" arrived in the same way. Damascus flew in civilian clothes, changed their clothes already on the Syrian base, that is, in the middle of the desert. The military uniform was carried with them, each dressed for its own taste. The most convenient is the desolate form of the British special forces SAS, the best in strength and color, then comes the form of American commandos. So, in appearance, the Russian fighters did not differ from the detachment of Anglo-Saxon special forces. The Syrian form, according to the unanimous opinion of the interlocutors,
OIL FIELDS ASH-SHAIR
Controls at the airport of Damascus the soldiers of PMCs did not pass, they immediately sat down by buses - and forward. Where?
"The rank and file personnel are never told - where, how much to go and what he will do," Stepan says. "We were brought to the area of the oil fields of Al-Sha'ir, where we stayed for three months and only three months later we learned how this place is called. 40 kilometers north-west of Palmyra.
They landed right in the mountain desert. Some did not have tents, in particular Sergei, and the first month and a half he lived "in the fresh air", although in the highlands at this time there were rains and cold. Only later they gave out the government tents. In total, three brigades of PMCs, that is, about a thousand people, were gathered in that place. What did you do?
"The mountains guarded," says Gennady. - On the opposite mountain ridge there were perfume-igilovtsy. They were constantly bombarded by aircraft. We were transported every day armored vehicles - tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, only about 60 units. Apparently, preparations were underway for the offensive.
At the end of August, the offensive began, and the soldiers marched through the mountains to the town of Akerbat. They descended into the valley, one by one took adjacent settlements.
"SHUTTERS" AND SHTRUMM ACERBATH
The strike force of the PMC brigade in Syria is commonly called "assaults" (with an emphasis on the last syllable). In addition to "assaults", there is still a platoon of heavy weapons, at its disposal mortars, ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles), heavy machine guns, AGS (automatic grenade launchers). Detachment of fire support. Armored group with an indefinite amount of equipment - from one BMP to several armored troop-carriers and tanks, to whom as lucky. The fighting staff of the brigade is about 200 people, those who have at least some sort of combat experience. The remaining 100-150 are the so-called staff guys, servants, personal drivers of commanders. The brigades are commanded by retired special forces officers (not a single cadre officer), there are practically no army officers.
"For example, to the commander of our brigade," says Gennady, "the Syrian commander turned and freely offered several tanks, since for them the Arabs had no crews.
The assault was the first to be "assaulted", followed by a platoon of heavy weapons - mortars, heavy machine guns, ATGMs, etc. The enemy arranged traps, gave almost unhindered access to several suburban settlements, and just before the city of Akerbat the brigade came up against the iron defenses where dozens were killed. The fighting here was specific, for every house. They found the documents of the Igilovites (they were handed to the Specialists of the PMC), notebooks with prayers in Russian came across, there were many Uzbek names on the lists.
"Only the Russian brigades of PMC took the Akerbat," Sergei says, the other two are nodding their heads. - The Syrians came to the final stage to film for TV news. We even hid in order not to get into the frame when the Syrians posed with a heroic look.
OFFICIAL SUMMARY OF THE ACQUISITION OF THE CABINET
So, the soldiers of the "Wagner" PMC claim that they seized Akerbat on their own, Syrian government troops did not take part in the assault. The official version claims exactly the opposite, the role of PMC is not marked by a word. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, "On September 2, 2017, units of the 4th Panzer Division of the Syrian government troops, in cooperation with units of the 5th Volunteer Assault Corps and military units of Mukhabarat, with active support of the Russian Air Force, liberated the strategically important city of Akerbat, where" the last major hearth resistance "of terrorists banned in Russia by the IG organization (" Islamic State "is an international terrorist organization banned in Russia).
The government "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" in those days broadcast a message from the commander of the Russian military group in Syria, Colonel-General Sergei Surovikin, who in particular noted that "to support the offensive of the Syrian army in the Akerbat area, Russian aircraft inflicted 329 bombing strikes, as a result which destroyed 27 armored vehicles of militants, 48 pickup trucks with installed large-caliber weapons and more than 1,000 fighters. " The general also said that the Igilovites in Akerbat used an unprecedented number of suicide bombers. According to him, "15 to 25 militants with" shahid belt "and four or five" jihad mobile "were killed on a daily basis. But the general did not say that the guys from PMC "Wagner" did this work on destruction.
SPIRITS
"Virtually all Igilovs wear a shahid's belt," Stepan says. - Such a beautiful thing, neat, a little weight. Plastic packaging, filled with a transparent gel, in which many, many metal balls. Because of this, we did not take a single spirit into captivity. One night the Igilovites foolishly stumbled into our village. Most, of course, we immediately barked, and a few for a while chased through the village. One spirit, apparently seriously wounded, called for help for a long time, and then an explosion rumbled. From the explosion, the neighboring wall collapsed. It turns out that he was twenty meters away from us. In the morning we cleaned, pits and cellars were thrown with grenades.
- The tactics of spirits are simple: when there is a night shootout, two or three shahids are picked up and explode, "added Gennady. - So it happened once or twice a week: the igilovets climbed up to the wall of our shelter and exploded. From such night outings, many died: eight in one battle, fifteen in another, and ten in the third.
"All the local people left the village by that time." In general, civilians were not encountered, - Sergey assured.
Part 1.
In the compartment of the company train "Quiet Flows the Don," which left early in November 2017 from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow, they washed a strange medal. In this award, the symbols of the hostile epochs - the Prussian Iron Cross, the Soviet five-pointed star and the White Guard Order of the Ice Camp - were clearly visible. Three men of different ages, about 20, 35 and 45 years old, did not fall into a drunken courage; awards imperceptibly disappeared somewhere so quickly that he did not have time to ask about the origin of the strange medal. And yet, the path was not distant, and little by little, first from scraps of phrases, then, when there were common tastes and memories, a whole picture began to form from frank conversations.
Three men returned after a six-month mission to Syria. We went on a contract with a well-known private military company (PMC) "Wagner", although the document, of course, does not have this call-alias or the name of its owner - Dmitry Utkin, who, incidentally, in the same November, was headed by the restaurant holding Eugenia Prigogine, also known as the "chief cook of the Kremlin." The official name of the organization that hired them to declare flatly refused, saying only that this name is constantly changing. The legal address is located in the Moscow region of Krasnogorsk, on the Ilinsky highway, near the military town of Pavshino. The duration of the contract is from three to six months. The contract is signed on the basis of PMCs in Molkino. The future soldier reads a multi-page document, signs, and he stays in the company's office.
On December 6, 2017, the Interfax news agency will officially inform, with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, that "Syria has been completely liberated from terrorists, all the gang formations of IGIL have been destroyed, more than a thousand populated areas have been liberated and the main communications have been unblocked." But only in these victorious relations does not say a word about the contribution made by ordinary soldiers of private military companies.
PLACE OF COLLECTION: BASE "MOLKINO"
The 10th separate brigade of the special purpose GRU (military unit 51532) is located in the area of the Molkino farm in the Krasnodar Territory. It is closely adjacent to the base of the "Wagner" PMC. The fighters came here from all parts of the country. First I had to undergo a medical commission and various admissions tests.
"The medical board was, but the selection is more visual: the arms and legs are in place - and forward," says Sergei. - They took everything in a row, because PMC carried great losses in Syria. Still needed to run 3 km, wring 40-50 times (this was rated as "good" and "excellent"). Many did not pass these standards, but were enrolled.
A much more serious test was a lie detector. Every candidate passes the polygraph. For example, out of eight people in the group in which Gennady was, only two, including himself, successfully passed the lie detector. What were cut off by others, which lies sought psychologists PMC, Gennady still does not represent. But, in his opinion, this selection did not exactly concern the criminal past of the candidates.
The contracted personnel was distributed among the "brigades". They were not army brigades in their traditional form, the composition of the PMC brigades consisted of only 300 to 400 people, depending on the tasks that they faced.
FLIGHT ROSTS-ON-DON - DAMASK
From the international airport of Rostov-on-Don flew on April 25, 2017, the usual charter flight. They did not put a visa in the passport, the border guards stamped only the mark of departure (and on return - another mark about the arrival). The Syrian border service does not appear in documents at all. In total, a hundred and fifty soldiers of PMC flew in the Boeing, in a day or two the second half of the "brigade" arrived in the same way. Damascus flew in civilian clothes, changed their clothes already on the Syrian base, that is, in the middle of the desert. The military uniform was carried with them, each dressed for its own taste. The most convenient is the desolate form of the British special forces SAS, the best in strength and color, then comes the form of American commandos. So, in appearance, the Russian fighters did not differ from the detachment of Anglo-Saxon special forces. The Syrian form, according to the unanimous opinion of the interlocutors,
OIL FIELDS ASH-SHAIR
Controls at the airport of Damascus the soldiers of PMCs did not pass, they immediately sat down by buses - and forward. Where?
"The rank and file personnel are never told - where, how much to go and what he will do," Stepan says. "We were brought to the area of the oil fields of Al-Sha'ir, where we stayed for three months and only three months later we learned how this place is called. 40 kilometers north-west of Palmyra.
They landed right in the mountain desert. Some did not have tents, in particular Sergei, and the first month and a half he lived "in the fresh air", although in the highlands at this time there were rains and cold. Only later they gave out the government tents. In total, three brigades of PMCs, that is, about a thousand people, were gathered in that place. What did you do?
"The mountains guarded," says Gennady. - On the opposite mountain ridge there were perfume-igilovtsy. They were constantly bombarded by aircraft. We were transported every day armored vehicles - tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, only about 60 units. Apparently, preparations were underway for the offensive.
At the end of August, the offensive began, and the soldiers marched through the mountains to the town of Akerbat. They descended into the valley, one by one took adjacent settlements.
"SHUTTERS" AND SHTRUMM ACERBATH
The strike force of the PMC brigade in Syria is commonly called "assaults" (with an emphasis on the last syllable). In addition to "assaults", there is still a platoon of heavy weapons, at its disposal mortars, ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles), heavy machine guns, AGS (automatic grenade launchers). Detachment of fire support. Armored group with an indefinite amount of equipment - from one BMP to several armored troop-carriers and tanks, to whom as lucky. The fighting staff of the brigade is about 200 people, those who have at least some sort of combat experience. The remaining 100-150 are the so-called staff guys, servants, personal drivers of commanders. The brigades are commanded by retired special forces officers (not a single cadre officer), there are practically no army officers.
"For example, to the commander of our brigade," says Gennady, "the Syrian commander turned and freely offered several tanks, since for them the Arabs had no crews.
The assault was the first to be "assaulted", followed by a platoon of heavy weapons - mortars, heavy machine guns, ATGMs, etc. The enemy arranged traps, gave almost unhindered access to several suburban settlements, and just before the city of Akerbat the brigade came up against the iron defenses where dozens were killed. The fighting here was specific, for every house. They found the documents of the Igilovites (they were handed to the Specialists of the PMC), notebooks with prayers in Russian came across, there were many Uzbek names on the lists.
"Only the Russian brigades of PMC took the Akerbat," Sergei says, the other two are nodding their heads. - The Syrians came to the final stage to film for TV news. We even hid in order not to get into the frame when the Syrians posed with a heroic look.
OFFICIAL SUMMARY OF THE ACQUISITION OF THE CABINET
So, the soldiers of the "Wagner" PMC claim that they seized Akerbat on their own, Syrian government troops did not take part in the assault. The official version claims exactly the opposite, the role of PMC is not marked by a word. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, "On September 2, 2017, units of the 4th Panzer Division of the Syrian government troops, in cooperation with units of the 5th Volunteer Assault Corps and military units of Mukhabarat, with active support of the Russian Air Force, liberated the strategically important city of Akerbat, where" the last major hearth resistance "of terrorists banned in Russia by the IG organization (" Islamic State "is an international terrorist organization banned in Russia).
The government "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" in those days broadcast a message from the commander of the Russian military group in Syria, Colonel-General Sergei Surovikin, who in particular noted that "to support the offensive of the Syrian army in the Akerbat area, Russian aircraft inflicted 329 bombing strikes, as a result which destroyed 27 armored vehicles of militants, 48 pickup trucks with installed large-caliber weapons and more than 1,000 fighters. " The general also said that the Igilovites in Akerbat used an unprecedented number of suicide bombers. According to him, "15 to 25 militants with" shahid belt "and four or five" jihad mobile "were killed on a daily basis. But the general did not say that the guys from PMC "Wagner" did this work on destruction.
SPIRITS
"Virtually all Igilovs wear a shahid's belt," Stepan says. - Such a beautiful thing, neat, a little weight. Plastic packaging, filled with a transparent gel, in which many, many metal balls. Because of this, we did not take a single spirit into captivity. One night the Igilovites foolishly stumbled into our village. Most, of course, we immediately barked, and a few for a while chased through the village. One spirit, apparently seriously wounded, called for help for a long time, and then an explosion rumbled. From the explosion, the neighboring wall collapsed. It turns out that he was twenty meters away from us. In the morning we cleaned, pits and cellars were thrown with grenades.
- The tactics of spirits are simple: when there is a night shootout, two or three shahids are picked up and explode, "added Gennady. - So it happened once or twice a week: the igilovets climbed up to the wall of our shelter and exploded. From such night outings, many died: eight in one battle, fifteen in another, and ten in the third.
"All the local people left the village by that time." In general, civilians were not encountered, - Sergey assured.
