Today in Moscow, under the leadership of the head of the military department of Army General Sergei Shoigu, a regular meeting of the Collegium of the Russian Ministry of Defense was held.
Before proceeding to discuss the thematic issues on the agenda, the Minister of Defense informed that yesterday, in the search for ways to resolve the situation in the de-escalation zone of Idlib, an important step was taken to stabilize the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic.
“Yesterday, as part of the settlement of the situation in the de-escalation zone of Idlib, large talks were held between the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of the Turkish Republic, Mr. Erdogan. They were attended by defense ministers, foreign ministers and chiefs of general staffs. After long negotiations, a decision was made, according to which, we believe that from today the process of building a new system, a new security structure of work in the de-escalation zone “Idlib” began, “said Sergei Shoigu.
He noted that the Memorandum on stabilization of the situation in the Idliba de-escalation zone signed by the parties provides for the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the demilitarization zone, which runs along the perimeter of the Idlib de-escalation zone to a depth of 15 to 20 km, in the shortest time, until October 10.
“In the future, until October 15, all radical groups must be withdrawn. Radical refers to IGIL, Jabhat-an-Nusra, those who are listed as United Nations organizations as terrorist organizations, “the head of the military department said.
Sergei Shoigu stressed that a lot of work was also done to determine the routes for further development of the movement of transport from Aleppo to Hamu and from Aleppo to Latakia. This route should also be accessible by the end of the year for all residents of both Aleppo and the Idlib de-escalation zone.
The Russian Defense Minister added that in addition to that, a number of issues related to ensuring work in the zones of demilitarization where the Russian military police and units of the Turkish Armed Forces will be in constant service were discussed.
Then the head of the military department told about the situation with the Russian Il-20 plane shot down in Syria.
“In the strike zone, to be more precise, between our aircraft (four F-16 aircraft) and the territory of Syria was our reconnaissance aircraft Il-20 with a crew of 15 on board, who was carrying out a reconnaissance mission in the Idlib de-escalation zone for determination of the storage and collection of unmanned aerial vehicles that fly out of this zone and strike at different areas of Syria, “the Russian Defense Minister said.
According to Sergei Shoigu, the Israeli F-16 attacked Syria under the cover of the Russian Il-20, suggesting that the Syrian air defense will not act in this direction.
“All the specialists understand that under the cover of our Il-20, assuming that the Syrian air defense systems will not act in this direction, a blow was struck,” the head of the Russian military department said, noting that the Israeli Air Force fighters struck without warning.
“The Israeli side without warning, to be more precise, for a minute, in exactly one minute, informed us that it is striking at objects in the territory of Syria,” the Russian Defense Minister said.
“As a result of the response to the attack of the Israeli aviation of the Syrian air defense systems, our IL-20 aircraft was struck, as a result of which our colleagues died. I suggest honoring their memory, ” said Army General Sergei Shoigu.
The head of the Russian military department said that he had notified the head of the Israeli Defense Ministry Avigdor Lieberman that Russia would not leave unanswered the actions of the Israeli Air Force in Syria, because of which Russian servicemen were killed.
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