Roundup: Russia-backed Syrian army advances on several fronts

The Syrian forces have recently made "rapid successes" in the battles against the militant groups on several fronts, the Syrian army said in a statement on Thursday, as the Russian air force has intensified its airstrikes and installed advanced defense systems near the Syrian coast.

"The defense lines of the terrorist groups have started collapsing in many areas... our information indicates the fleeing of tens of terrorists from battlefields toward the Turkish borders," the statement said.

The Syrian air force carried out as many as 179 airstrikes over the past five days, targeting 673 militant targets in the countryside of the capital Damascus, central Homs province, northwestern province of Idlib, the northern province of Aleppo, the coastal province of Latakia and Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria.

"The strikes have inflicted hefty losses on the terror groups of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and other groups in several areas," the statement said.

Meanwhile, a Syrian military source said the Russian air force carried out as many as 134 airstrikes, pounding 449 terror groups positions on Monday and Tuesday, according to the state news agency SANA.

The Russian strikes destroyed 30 command centers, eight weapon depots, 55 positions where heavy military gears were positioned and 337 militant groups' gatherings as well as four oil refineries the Islamic State (IS) group were using.

The Syrian military also stated that the Russian Black Sea Fleet's flagship, Moskva, arrived off the coast in Latakia city on Thursday to take part in the air defense.

Moreover, Russia's powerful S-400 missile system was successfully deployed in the Hmaimim airbase in Latakia, as part of the intensified Russian military campaign in Syria, which came against the backdrop of the Turkish downing of a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish borders last Tuesday.

The Turks said the Russian jet infiltrated the Turkish airspace, a claim totally denied by Moscow, whose officials stressed the jet was in the Syrian airspace when it was shot down by Turkey.

The incident, which led to the killing of one of two Russian pilots and destruction of the war jet, has sparked tension between Moscow and Ankara, which promoted Russia to increase its defense systems in Syria to protect its forces from any threat.

The deployment of such powerful air defense system will enable Russia to protect the entire Syrian airspace from any infiltration attempt, observers said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Wednesday that President Vladimir Putin had ordered the deployment of the S-400 surface-to-air missile systems at the Hmeimim air base in Syria, where Russia's air force is stationed, in order to allegedly raise its air defense capacity following the downing of a Russian Su-24 warplane by Turkey.

The S-400 Triumf, a new-generation anti-aircraft missile system, is capable of hitting an airborne target at a distance of up to 400 km with medium- and long-range missiles.

The deployment of the S-400 has sparked the fears of the Western powers, mainly the United States, whose embassy in Moscow said on Thursday that the decision to deploy S-400 missile systems in Syria will complicate the situation in the country.

"We expect that if Russia follows through, it will abide by our memorandum of understanding regarding flight safety and not direct this system against coalition aircraft," the embassy said.

The presence of the most advanced military gears has apparently shifted the Syrian-Russian relations and alliance to a whole new level.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Thursday that the bilateral relations between Syria and Russia has entered "an unprecedented, strategic stage of alliance that has too many dimensions, not only the military and political, but also the cultural and economic ones."

The Russian air force started pounding the terror groups' positions across Syria in late September this year, enabling the Syrian army to make notable progress on ground.

After the downing of the Russian warplane, the Russian air force intensified its airstrikes against the Turkey-backed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo near the Turkish borders.

The Russian jets also struck truckloads of aid the rebels in border towns were receiving via the Turkish borders. Endit