Russian involvement in Libiyan crisis

bhramos

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Russian PMC's start and complete 1st mission in Libya

this all started when Commander of the Libyan Armed Forces, General Khalifa Haftar (R), and Deputy Commander of the Russian Northern Fleet, Vice Admiral Victor Sokolov (L), on the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy aircraft-carrying missile cruiser signed deal allowing Russians to Interfere in Libyan crisis.




@Kunal Biswas @pmaitra if you have objections i will update the thread with pics, videos & news updates....
 

bhramos

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#Libya #Russian #Benghazi

in the Libyan army explained to the invitation of the Russian PMCs.

Russian private company "SCR-Group" has cleared one of the largest cement plants in Libya at the request of the owners, rather than on the treatment of the government. This was confirmed by RBC in the "SCR-Group" and the Libyan army. The contract was worth about $ 10 million, said RBC's source close to the leadership of the plant.

Owners LCC Libyan private cement company was asked to "SCR-groups" of experts from the Russian private company defuse a cement plant in Benghazi, as Russian engineers sought a lower amount than the other players on the market. This RBC said the head of "SCR-Group", a former FSB officer Oleg Krinitsyn. The company, he says, involved in mine clearance at the request of the owners. This was confirmed by RBC and Mohammad Gunayem, mediasovetnik environment of Libya National Army commander Khalifa Haftar.



http://www.rbc.ru/politics/25/03/2017/58d3ece89a79474685d537b5?from=main
 

bhramos

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What Americans Need To Know If Russia Intervenes in Libya’s Civil War



Indications that Russia could intervene militarily in Libya’s messy civil war are growing. If it does, the Trump White House will face a tangle of unpleasant choices with far-reaching consequences. Will the new U.S. administration acquiesce to Russia’s strongman vision for the region, or push back against Russia’s growing influence there?

For months, the Kremlin has sought to draw Libya’s eastern potentate General Khalifa Hiftar into its orbit. Hiftar is currently the de facto leader of a bloc of eastern Libyan forces that oppose Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli, the so called Government of National Accord. Negotiations between the two sides are going nowhere and rumors of a potential Hiftar offensive against the Tripoli government have been swirling for months.

Hiftar has been to Moscow and paid a visit to the Russian aircraft carrier Kuznetsov in the Mediterranean, during which he held a video call with Russian Defense Minister Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Then, last week, Moscow reportedly deployed troops to a base on Egypt’s northern coast just 60 miles from the border crossing with Libya.

There are a few ways to interpret their latest move: It could just be posturing, part of a Russian hybrid warfare strategy aimed at influencing ongoing negotiations over Libya’s future. But there are plenty of reasons to believe it may be the early phase of a Russian intervention.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is eager to underscore the challenges that U.S. pro-democracy interventions in the Middle East have faced and offer up an alternative Russian strategy that relies on authoritarian leaders that look a lot like Putin himself. The 2011 NATO intervention in Libya has long been a target of Kremlin criticism and the chance to portray Russia as Libya’s savior – as Russia has attempted to do in Syria – must be more than a little tempting for the Russian president.

Closer ties to Libya would also offer Russia the chance to extend its reach further along the Mediterranean’s southern littoral – i.e. NATO’s southern flank. Russia could, for example, seek to deploy advanced anti-access, area-denial systems along the Libyan coast, significantly enlarging the anti-access bubble that it has already established in the Eastern Mediterranean with similar deployments in Syria – a bubble that was already raising significant concern with top U.S. military commanders a year ago.

Influence over Libya meanwhile offers Russia leverage over Europe when it comes to the challenge posed by the increasingly deadly central Mediterranean migration route, which begins in Libya.

Libya’s high quality crude is yet another reason for Moscow to throw its weight behind Hiftar. The Kremlin is fixated on the coming global competition for natural resources and the Russian oil and gas company, Rosneft, just signed a new agreement with Libya’s National Oil Corporation in February. Despite a few recent setbacks, Hiftar controls a significant amount of Libya’s oil infrastructure in the east and has influence over some western fields as well.

A Russian move into Libya would put the Trump team in an extremely tough spot. The U.S. has invested time and energy in supporting the Tripoli government. Moreover, U.S. and allied special forces worked with Libyan militias aligned with Tripoli in a successful counter-terrorism operation that ousted the Islamic State from the town of Sirte last year. Russian dominance in Libya could lead Italy to scuttle the sanctions regime the United States and European Union imposed on Russia on account of its annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. A deeper Russian anti-access area denial pocket would meanwhile be a challenge for U.S. Military operations in the region.

If Moscow backs a Hiftar move on Tripoli, would the U.S. step aside and let its Libyan partners get crushed by a Russian-backed force? Or would it try to take action – potentially even militarily – to slow Hiftar down and give these allies a fighting chance of avoiding calamity?

It’s not an easy choice.

Supporting the government in Tripoli would require at least some U.S. boots on the ground. A large U.S. deployment might deter a Russian intervention, but would likely meet very strong resistance within the U.S. A small-scale intervention would be more feasible, but even if U.S. advisors operated far from the front lines they would still be at risk should Russian warplanes support a Hiftar advance – as they have for forces loyal to the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria.

Moreover, overt action against a Russian ally would kill the broader U.S.-Russian reset that the White House still seems to want. True, the Trump administration has sent conflicting signals about its views on Russia, with some senior officials evincing near sympathy for Putin, while others clearly harbor deep suspicion. Nevertheless, going toe-to-toe with Russia in Libya would clearly put an end to the Putin-Trump attempt at reconciliation.

The risk, then, is that the U.S. and its allies would end up largely on the sidelines as Russia installs another strongman in the region, and extends its power along NATO’s southern flank. This would be a tragic outcome to the story that began with such high hopes in 2011 and another boost to Putin’s prestige.

Christopher S. Chivvis is associate director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center and Amanda Kadlec is a policy analyst at the non-profit, non-partisan RAND Corporation.

http://fortune.com/2017/03/26/russia-us-donald-trump/

 

bhramos

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Libya: Russian private contractors from Syria support Haftar



Reports have emerged highlighting several dozen armed private security contractors from Russia having operated in a part of Libya under the control of regional army leader Khalifa Haftar, like reported by middleeastmonitor.com.

The reports were confirmed by the head of the firm that hired the contractors who spoke to Reuters. The reports are the latest sign of Moscow’s public diplomatic support for Haftar.

Military strongmen Haftar is opposed to the UN-backed government which Western states see as the best chance of restoring stability in Libya.

However some Russian policymakers see the Libyan strongman as Libya’s best choice in ending the six years of lawless chaos that followed the ousting of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.

According to the head of the firm, the presence of the military contractors was purely a commercial arrangement which was unlikely to have been allowed to operate in the North African country without prior approval from Moscow.

One of the owners of the Russian firms, Oleg Krinitsyn, said he sent the contractors to eastern Libya last year and were removed once their mission was completed.

The task of the contractors was to remove mines from an industrial facility near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, an area Haftar’s forces liberated from Daesh last year.

When asked whether the mission had official blessing from Moscow, Krinitsyn told Reuters his firm did not work with the Russian Defence Ministry, but was “consulting” with the Russian Foreign Ministry.

If we’re under assault we enter the battle, of course, to protect our lives and the lives of our clients,

Krinitsyn said his contractors were ready to strike back in case of an attack.

The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters that it had no information on the presence of the contractors in Libya and did not know Krinitsyn.

Support in the battle
Krinitsyn said some of the contractors he hired for Libya had previously worked in Syria, though not in combat roles and declined to disclose how many contractors were involved in the mission in Libya, citing commercial secrecy.

Haftar has been seeking military support to help consolidate his control over parts of Libya which Russia has been willing to engage with as it seeks to broaden its influence in the region.

The general’s close colleague and advisor, Abdelbasset Al-Badri, met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow today to further press for support in the battle against the Benghazi Defence Brigades.

According to the Russian foreign ministry: “Both sides exchanged detailed views on of the developments in Libya.”

It also said that Bogdanov and Badri “agreed on the importance to arrange a collective dialogue to be participated by representatives from all political and tribal groups.”

http://www.islamedianalysis.info/libya-russian-private-contractors-from-syria-support-haftar/
 

bhramos

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RUSSIAN PRIVATE MILITARY CONTRACTORS OPERATE IN LIBYA – REPORT

Russian private military contractors operate on the territory of Libya and other countries of the Middle East.


Contract soldiers of the RSB-Group private military company (Photo: Twitter / PM_company_bot)

The post is based on this article by BMPD blog and the info from opex360.com

In accordance with Article 359 of the Russian Criminal Code, activities related to mercenarism can be sentenced to up to eight years in prison, however, this does not prevent existence of so-called private military companies, such as Moran Security Group (registered in Belize), Tigr, Antiterror-Orel, Slavonic Corps (registered in Hong Kong) or RSB-Group, headquartered in Moscow, the Zone Militaire information portal reported on Monday.

Since 2012, several attempts to legalize activities of private military companies have been failed due to opposition of the Russian Defense Ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB), which negatively treat establishment of such organizations because of fears that these structures, financed by oligarchs, can operate against interests of the state. But, in substance, they are reconciled with the fact of their presence.

So, in recent months, it was reported about actions of Slavonic Corps and Wagner group, the latter of which was established by a former officer of the Chief Intelligence Directorate (GRU), Dmitry Utkin, in Syria. The same was reported about the Donbass.

Though two executives of Slavonic Corps, Vadim Gusev and Yevgeny Sidorov, were sentenced to three years in prison for hiring 267 Russian citizens to participate in combat operations in Syria, while the soldiers under contract were told that they would protect oil infrastructure facilities, some heads of so-called private military companies feel themselves confident. So, Dmitry Utkin was spotted at a social gathering in the Kremlin in December 2016, and employees of the Wagner Group conducted operations in Syria in close cooperation with the Russian Army.

As the website noted, uncertainty of the legal status of private military companies is ‘very useful’, as Russia can ‘officially’ say that it does not take part in ground operations in Syria. In addition, if servicemen of a private military company are killed, this will not be a problem of the Russian Defense Ministry because in this regard there is no resonance in media.

The usage of private military contractors also allows Moscow to operate in those territories, where it has no intention of serious intervening. Founder of RSB-Group and a graduate of the ‘KGB academy’ Oleg Krinitsyn likes to repeat that “what is not forbidden is allowed.” Last year, in an interview with the French Le Figaro newspaper, he claimed that 86 his employees, all of whom are former military with real experience, were conducting demining operations in Libya in the interests of an unnamed customer.

A few months later, Krinitsyn raise slightly the curtain over the secret in an interview with the Reuters news agency. According to him, about 12 Russian private military companies sent dozens of people to the zone, controlled by the national Libyan Army, and they came under command of Marshal Khalifa Haftar and the authorities in Tobruk, which are not recognized by the international community.

Krinitsyn noted that the presence of these contract soldiers was a simple “commercial agreement.” Their mission, which ended in February, was to demine industrial infrastructure facilities in the area of Benghazi, which was recaptured from Islamists by the Haftar forces. In addition, according to Krinitsyn, private military companies have abilities to protect lives of their servicemen and customers. He also noted that “according to the military canons, the attack must be followed by a counterattack. And this means that we must eliminate the enemy.”

The head of RSB-Group also pointed out that his company has not worked with the Russian Defense Ministry, but on the other hand it had contacts with the Foreign Ministry. He did not specify whether the “mission” of contract soldiers was approved by the government of national consensus, formed under the auspices of the UN. But all the facts show that it did not take place.

As Zone Militaire noted, support of Marshal Haftar by Russia is not a surprise. However, Moscow tries to play its role in the settlement of the Syrian conflict, attempting to establish a dialogue between the two hostile governments. On March 3, head of the Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, visited Moscow.

Haftar also receive support by Egypt and the UAE, as well as by France, which sent him troops and advisers from the country’s General Directorate for External Security (DGSE).

On Tuesday, the Reuters news agency reported, citing US and Egyptian military and diplomatic sources, that Russia has deployed a limited contingent of 22 servicemen and unknown number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at an airbase in Egypt on the border with Libya.

The agency’s sources said that “the US noticed something that probably can be Russian troops and UAVs” in the area of the Sidi Barrani base, located 100 kilometers from the border between Egypt and Libya. According to the sources, the purpose of this deployment should be “support for commander of the Libyan Army, Khalifa Haftar,” who was defeated in the battles with rebels from the Benghazi Defense Brigade (BDB), which attacked oil ports, controlled by his forces, on March 3.

Cairo denies presence of other countries’ armed forces on its territory. Spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov also denied this information. Earlier, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Federation Committee on Foreign Affairs, Vladimir Jabarov, also said that Russia did not send its military specialists and drones to the air base in Egypt.


https://southfront.org/russian-private-military-contractors-operate-in-libya-report/
 

bhramos

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Russian PMC with Daesh Suicide Mobile!!!
only PMC wear shorts, place Libya or Syria unknown


 

bhramos

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Libyan National Army received arms and ammunition for the beginning of the liberation of the city of Derna

The network has photos which show the fighters of the Libyan National Army and they obtained Howitzer M-30 and a variety of ammunition. Soldiers of the LDF reported that the aid received by them for future operations to liberate the large city of Derna, employed militant groups, "the Shura Council of the city of Derna."





howitzers explicitly look from repair plant after maintenance from storage, which has been replaced wheels on ural .......
 

bhramos

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At the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the meeting of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, was held with the commander of the Libyan National Army, Khalif Khaftar, who is in Moscow on a working trip.

During the conversation, the main attention was paid to the development of the situation in North Africa with an emphasis on the situation in Libya.

The sides stressed the importance of the dialogue and agreed to continue contacts.





 

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