Russian Ministry of Defence: Only 23 Out of 59 Tomahawks Reached the Shayrat Base
The Ministry of Defence of Russia commented on today's US strike against Syria. Here is a statement from Igor Konashenkov, the representative of the Ministry of Defence. On April 7, from 3:42 to 3:56 (Moscow time), two US Navy destroyers, USS Ross and USS Porter, conducted a massive strike with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from an area near Crete in the Mediterranean Sea against the Syrian Shayrat Air Base, Homs province.
As a result, an equipment depot, a training building, a mess, six MiG-23 aircraft in repair hangars, as well as a radar station were destroyed. The runway, taxiways, and parked aircraft of the Syrian Air Force weren't damaged. According to information received from the Syrian Air Base HQ, two Syrian servicemen are missing, 4 were killed, and 6 received burn wounds while extinguishing the fire.
Therefore, combat effectiveness of the American massive missile strike on the Syrian Air Base is extremely low. These actions of the American side are considered as a serious violation of the Memorandum on Prevention of Flight Safety Incidents during operations in Syria's airspace signed in 2015. The Russian Defence Ministry has suspended cooperation with the Pentagon within this Memorandum. All the accusations against Damascus that it had violated the Chemical Weapons Convention of 2013 given by the USA as reasons for the strike are groundless.
The Russian Defence Ministry has repeatedly explained that Syrian troops did not use chemical weapons. We're looking forward to receiving an explanation from the USA regarding, as they state, the existence of irrefutable proof that the Syrian army had used chemical weapons in Khan Shaykhun. And I stress that in 2013 to 2016 the Syrian government undertook all measures to eliminate chemical weapons, its delivery systems, and production facilities. All chemical weapons stocks have been destroyed. The production components have been transported from the Syrian Arab Republic to enterprises in the United States, Finland, Great Britain, and Germany where they have been destroyed.
US administrations have changed, but the methods for unleashing wars have remained the same since bombardments of Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Libya. Allegations, falsifications, theatrical shows with photos and test tubes with pseudo results in international organizations became the reasons for initiating aggression, instead of an objective investigation. It is to be stressed that a large-scale offensive by ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra armed formations was launched right after the massive missile strike against the Syrian Air Base. The Russian Defence Ministry hopes that militant activities had not been coordinated with the American side.
Today it is obvious that the American cruise missile strike had been planned long before this event. To prepare such a strike, it's necessary to conduct reconnaissance operations, to plan and prepare missile flight paths, and to put them on full combat alert. It is clear for any specialist that the decision to conduct a missile strike on Syria had been made by Washington well in advance of the events in Khan Shaykhun, which have become just a formal reason for the attack, while the demonstration of military power is due to internal issues and problems. In the near future, the effectiveness of the Syrian Armed Forces air defense system will be improved in order to cover the most important objects of the Syrian infrastructure.
In front of you, you can see a video from the Syrian Shayrat Air Base, made with a Russian drone immediately after impact of American cruise missiles. The video shows the real results of the massive attack from the US Navy ships. You see that the runway and taxiways were not damaged by the missile strikes. Aircraft parking isn't damaged either, like the aircraft themselves. Moreover, protective arched constructions, inside of which there are Syrian Air Force planes, are in their original state. These structures are the concrete version, built to protect the aircraft. The flight strip doesn't have a single shell hole from cruise missiles. Panoramic video from the Russian drones shows that the main strikes occurred around the perimeter of the base, and there are shell holes from 50 to 100 meters away from the runway itself and taxiways. Here’s a hit. And away from the infrastructure facilities of the base.
