Details of the battle of the Russian military police in the Idlib region. In Syria, a platoon of Russian military police was surrounded, but the participants in the special operation managed to break through the ring. “The morale was normal, combative. There was no panic, people but

From Syria, which provides details of the battle in Idlib, during which a Russian military police unit was surrounded and fought for several hours.

Idlib. Syrian province on the border with Turkey. Mountains. From there comes the main flow of ISIS members (members of a terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation) with Russian passports. When Idlib was declared a de-escalation zone, it was immediately clear: it would be very difficult to establish peace there. But it is necessary to block the militants’ access to Syrian territory. And sure enough, this week 29 members of the military police of the Russian Ministry of Defense are surrounded. The platoon holds out for several hours, fighting shoulder to shoulder with fighters of the local tribe, until their own people come to the rescue. Guys from the special operations service and pilots from the Aerospace Forces. Our correspondent Leonid Kitrar talks about those who today personify the pride of Russia.

Modular armored vehicle K-63968 "Typhoon-K" and multi-purpose vehicle AMN 233114 "Tiger-M" of the military police of the Russian Army, Idlib region, Syria, September 2017 (c) Ren-TV

They are firing at us. All around. Mortar attack. I can't tell you. This time, before dawn, is called the “hour of the wolf.” The sun hasn't risen yet. Human sleep is the deepest. It was at such a moment - in all centuries - that it was customary to launch surprise attacks.

More shooting. Idlib de-escalation zone. Observation post. Russian military police officers and Syrian army soldiers are under fire. Militants of Jabhat al-Nusra (banned in the Russian Federation) immediately used mortars and what they call “hellish weapons” against them - gas cylinders filled with explosives.

It was only at first that the shells exploded several times a minute. Then the shelling became so dense that there were simply no pauses between explosions.

“My platoon took up defense on the second floor. According to the combat crew, we held the defense until mines began to hit the building directly. The second floor was destroyed, and we moved to the first, where the SAR servicemen were located. We held the defense together with them ",— says military police platoon commander Alexander Samoilov.

Tactically, the terrorists acted very competently. Under the cover of dense mortar fire, they approached close combat range and opened fire with small arms. This Ural car is evidence of this. Its entire side is covered with bullet holes from machine guns and heavy machine guns.

A Syrian soldier was wounded in the head and leg. If not for the help of our military, he could have died from painful shock. But he survived.

At the same time, a special unit created to help the posts that came under attack was raised on alarm. It includes the rarest military specialists - special operations forces fighters.

Alexander coolly shows his helmet. The bullet hit the back of the helmet, changed its trajectory and got stuck in the front hemisphere. In the heat of battle, Alexander did not notice this.

Protective helmet Armocom LZSh-1, damaged during the battle (c) Ren-TV

“They destroyed the balloon launcher and crew. This greatly helped reduce the intensity of shelling,” says special operations forces officer Alexander.

The MTR fighters cannot show their faces: the detachment will continue to work in Syria for a long time and the identity of each person must remain a secret to their opponents. Moreover, the battle often has to be fought with a colossal numerical superiority of the enemy. Just like this time.

“It was in our direction that we counted about four or five tanks. And there were the same number of infantry fighting vehicles. Well, in each infantry fighting vehicle there were about 8-10 people. And there was also infantry. And in our direction alone there were 90-100 people. They were heading towards our positions," says MTR officer Maxim.

In the first hour, all the grenade launcher shots were used up. There was nothing left to resist the terrorists' armored vehicles. It was at this moment that the Russian Aerospace Forces came to the rescue - SU-25 Grachi attack aircraft and combat helicopters.

To understand the scale and nuances of the battle, it is enough to imagine that in the very first minutes the military police had their escape routes cut off. Using tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, the terrorists advanced 12 kilometers deep into the front. The entire personnel of the observation post - 29 people and 15 SOF soldiers who managed to come to the rescue - found themselves surrounded. By that time there was almost no technology left for a breakthrough at speed.

“This car was our only hope. I immediately drove it into the basement under fire in order to save it,”- says military police officer Sultan Misirbiev.

The Sultan, risking his life, saved not only his car, but also, in fact, saved all his colleagues. Aviation, of course, penetrated the exit corridor, but the shelling did not stop. And the Typhoon's armor stopped more than one fragment and bullet.

At the very end of the evacuation, a mine exploded under the armored car and damaged part of the suspension. But the Typhoon didn't even stop. The car is not designed for that.

Modular armored vehicle K-63968 "Typhoon-K", multi-purpose vehicle AMN 233114 "Tiger-M" and URAL trucks of the military police of the Russian army, Idlib region, Syria, September 2017 (c) Ren-TV

It is now clear that for this attack the terrorists gathered not just huge forces, but the best.

“There was an assault squad of militants. They were very interestingly equipped. Everyone was wearing multicam. Everyone had good unloading. Masks. That is, they are not easy people,”- Alexander recalls.

Multicam is a camouflage pattern. Used by the US Special Operations Command. And that is not all. The attack on an observation point in the newly operational Idlib de-escalation zone, apparently, could have been part of a much larger plan designed to disrupt the successful offensive of the Syrian army near Deir ez-Zor. As the Russian Ministry of Defense stated, the United States has a direct connection to the breakthrough of militants deep into the front:

“According to available data, this offensive was initiated by American intelligence agencies to stop the successful advance of government troops east of Deir ez-Zor.”

The militants' calculations turned out to be wrong. The submarine put an end to the adventure of the Al-Nusra terrorists and their sponsors." Velikiy Novgorod" - already known throughout the world with Caliber missiles. In a few days, the terrorists lost a large group and dozens of pieces of equipment.

For modern military history, such an operation is a huge rarity. And it’s not even that less than 50 fighters with light weapons successfully repelled the onslaught of hundreds of enemies with armored vehicles. We came out of the battle without losses! But most importantly, each of the militants saw: the Russians do not abandon their own.

However, sad news came from Syria today. The Ministry of Defense reported that as a result of mortar shelling, the commander of the 5th Combined Arms Army, Lieutenant General Valery Asapov, was killed there. He was a senior member of the military advisory team and assisted Syrian commanders in managing the operation to liberate Deir ez-Zor. The shelling came from territory occupied by Islamic State militants. Lieutenant General posthumously nominated for the award

Syria is again in the spotlight. Our military showed an example of courage and military art. A military police platoon, surrounded, repelled attacks by hundreds of militants. The enemy had mortars and even tanks. Russian special forces came to the rescue and unblocked the police platoon. There are no losses.

What is happening in Syria in general, now that the defeat of ISIS has become inevitable?

Most of Syria is under the control of government forces, under the control of Bashar al-Assad. There is a struggle for the rest of the territory. There are many people involved here. The so-called opposition, which is supported by the Americans - not just morally, they are supported by airstrikes. For example, in the Deir ez-Zor region, the opposition is trying to seize oil fields. This will be a good card in the upcoming game with Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds are another player. They contributed to the fight against ISIS. But here's one observation. Militant detachments seem to be giving way to the Kurdish offensive, and the Syrian army is offering stiff resistance.

This is similar to Germany in 1945, when German troops gave up entire regions to our Western allies without a fight, and Soviet troops fought their way to Berlin with blood. The Kurdish issue generally comes to the fore. A referendum is being prepared in Iraq, the Kurds want their own state. Deferred conflicts come to the surface. Peaceful life in Syria is still far away. But the main thing is to end the war.

Where will the defeated ISIS bandits go? They will go underground, which means the likelihood of terrorist attacks in Europe increases. They will be drawn to Afghanistan, to Yemen, to Libya. And one cannot expect stability in these countries. The fight against radicals is not over.

But it is important that in Syria the series of overthrows of leaders of Arab countries is over. Vladimir Putin has put a barrier to the American concept of chaos in the Middle East and North Africa. You can't act like that now. Legitimate authority must be respected.

With each shot the mines are getting closer and closer. Militants of Jabhat al-Nusra, banned in Russia, began shelling an observation post in Idlib province early in the morning. They aimed at the building where Russian military police officers were located.

“We held the defense until mortar shells began to hit the building with direct fire. The second floor was destroyed and we moved to the first floor, where there were also soldiers from the Syrian Arab Republic. Together with them we held the defense on the first floor,” said platoon commander of the Russian military police Alexander Samoilov.

The defense was held by 29 Russian military police. And over 10 Syrian soldiers. Some of them were wounded in the first minutes of the shelling.

The equipment that was taken out from the base of the observation post near Idlib: the water carrier can no longer be restored; it was hit by a mine fired by militants. Before surrounding the Russian military police post, the terrorists fired at it with artillery.

The terrorists prepared the attack carefully. Militant drones have been flying over the post all week. Several mortar attacks bombed the road around.

Night photography was taken several hours before the start of the battle: the enemy is taking positions. By dawn the observation post was surrounded. The escape routes are cut off.

The attack was part of a large-scale militant operation. One might say, the last attempt to turn the situation in one’s favor. It is noteworthy that before this attack, the international coalition led by America and the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces stopped the operation to liberate Raqqa.

During the day, the militants managed to penetrate the defenses of the Syrian army to a depth of 12 kilometers, and at the front, as the military says, up to 20 kilometers. Moreover, when Syrian troops began to cross the Euphrates River, the water level and flow speed increased sharply - the terrorists released water from the dams they controlled. And all this in order to maintain control over Deir ez-Zor, a city beyond which the oil regions begin and which the Syrian army is about to liberate.

“They have already crossed the Euphrates and seized a bridgehead, which means they are already advancing on those areas that are economically beneficial for the militants, which they do not want to give up. And, so, the United States of America tells them how to behave,” explains the head of the department of political science and sociology at the G.V. Russian University of Economics. Plekhanov Andrey Koshkin.

Judging by the forces the militants committed to the operation near Idlib, they expected to take the observation post easily and quickly.

“It was in our direction that we counted about four or five tanks. And there were just as many infantry fighting vehicles. Each infantry fighting vehicle contained about 8-10 landing troops, plus infantry also went on the attack, separately from the armored vehicles. I guess it was about 90-100 people who went only to our positions,” said Maxim, a serviceman of the Russian Special Operations Forces.

Maxim's unit was the first to arrive to help our military police garrison. Special Operations Forces soldiers. It is this detachment that is prepared to break through to the military who are surrounded, although the fighters of this army unit can perform tasks of any complexity. Anywhere in the world. And for them there are no impossible missions.

This is one of the most secret units of the Ministry of Defense. Little is known about him. The detachment began to be created in 2009 on the basis of one of the units near Moscow. They have the most modern domestic weapons. And each fighter of this elite squad is, in fact, unique.

It was they who came to the aid of the self-defense of Crimea in the spring of 2014. It was then that the whole country learned about the existence of “polite people.”

Special Operations Forces have been working in Syria since 2015. They are the ones who obtain information about terrorist targets. And they direct our planes for airstrikes. While carrying out such a task in March last year, an officer of this unit, Alexander Prokhorenko, died. Sasha corrected the work of our pilots during the liberation of Palmyra. Surrounded by terrorists, he drew fire on himself. Posthumously awarded the Gold Star of Hero of Russia. However, the country rarely learns the names of these people. By virtue of the profession.

Here is the story of 16 SOF officers who repelled attacks by 300 militants near Aleppo for almost two days this spring. They emerged from the encirclement without losses and were awarded state awards, which were presented by Vladimir Putin personally. The faces of the heroes remained behind the scenes; the president mentioned their feat in his speech at the May 9 Parade.

“We feel a bloody, piercing kinship with the generation of heroes and winners, and, addressing them, I will say: you will never be ashamed of us. The Russian, Russian soldier today, as at all times, showing courage and heroism, is ready for any feat, for any sacrifice for the sake of his homeland, for the sake of his people. Such warriors, soldiers and officers exist here today,” said Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

Near Idlib, Special Operations Forces officers also accomplished a feat. With air support, they repelled several militant attacks. They lifted the blockade and went to the observation post.

“From the west we had an assault force of militants. Their equipment was very interesting: everything was in MultiCam, good unloading, MultiCam masks, that is, they were not ordinary people,” noted Special Operations Forces soldier Alexander.

MultiCam is a military camouflage pattern developed by a private American company in conjunction with the US Army Soldier Equipment Center. Used by units of the Main Directorate of Special Forces of the Ministry of Defense of this country. The close ties between Americans and militants are evidenced by photographs from the Russian Ministry of Defense. They were made just a few days ago in the north of Deir ez-Zor province.

This is a large concentration of American Hummer-type armored vehicles used by US special forces. And they are located in strongholds previously equipped by ISIS militants. Maybe the Americans recaptured these bases? But the photographs clearly show that around these objects there are no signs of an assault, battles with ISIS, or craters from airstrikes of the international coalition led by the United States. Moreover, given the fact that this land is controlled by ISIS units, there are not even signs of military security around the bases. And the Hummers move calmly. This suggests that US troops in terrorist-held areas feel completely safe.

“Who is fighting against Assad? ISIS, al-Nusra and the United States are fighting. This is the pro-American coalition. And those attempts to attack our military police and so on testify to this. We are not opposed by a wild tribe of some incomprehensible bandits, we are opposed by a militarily powerful power that has no principles,” says Alexander Zhilin, head of the Center for the Study of Public Applied Problems of National Security.

However, the story with Idlib has once again shown that it is already very difficult for terrorists to implement overseas plans. Even the observation post turned out to be a serious obstacle. Perhaps here, near Idlib, not so much a tactical as an ideological victory was won. And without losses.

“The order to leave was given. They said that I would give you a corridor, the guys came up, hold on. We got ready, the only intact vehicle we had left, the Typhoon armored capsule, we went out,” said the driver of the military police platoon, Sultan Miserbiev.

Near Idlib, the militant advance was stopped. Government troops regained their previously lost positions almost on the same day. The final point in this operation was set by the Caliber missiles. The retaliatory strike on the terrorist positions was carried out from the Veliky Novgorod submarine. From the Mediterranean Sea.

“Important control points, training bases and armored vehicles of terrorists who took part in the attempt to capture 29 Russian military police in the north of Hama province were destroyed. Objective control data confirmed the defeat of targets,” said official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov.

For two years now, the roar of Russian military aircraft taking off has not subsided over the airfield near Latakia. The support of the Russian Aerospace Forces helped the Syrians liberate most of the country - 87% of the territory.

Our aviation carried out over 30 thousand combat sorties and carried out about 100 thousand targeted strikes on terrorist command posts, training camps, and ammunition depots. More than 50 thousand extremists were destroyed.

With the help of our pilots and Special Operations Forces personnel, we managed to liberate Palmyra and Aleppo. And within the next week it is planned to take full control of Deir ez-Zor.

Unique footage has been released - an attack, mortar shelling, encirclement and breakthrough of Russian troops in the Syrian province of Idlib. A military police platoon of the Russian Ministry of Defense and fighters of the government forces of the Syrian Arab Republic against hundreds of al-Qaeda militants.

The soldiers found themselves surrounded by enemies. They were faced with a difficult task - to repel attacks by terrorists many times superior in number and wait for help. Today new details of this operation have become known.

An amateur recording from the phone of one of the defenders shows the first moments of the attack. Early in the morning, terrorists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( Jabhat al-Nusra*, Syrian al-Qaeda*) are shelling a military police post on the border of the provinces of Idlib and Hama. The video clearly shows how mines explode one after another, with each mortar shot getting closer and closer to the observation post where military police of the Russian Ministry of Defense and Syrian fighters are located.

Platoon commander of the Russian military police senior lieutenant Alexander Samoilov told details about this fight:

“When the mortar shelling began, my platoon took up defensive positions on the second floor according to the combat crew. We held the defense until mortar shells began to hit the building with direct fire. The second floor was destroyed, and we moved to the first floor, where the SAR soldiers were located. We held the defense together with them,” he says.

Lieutenant Samoilov had 29 fighters under his command. As reported "Russian Spring", this unit arrived in Idlib province a week before the treacherous attack by gangs.

More details in the material: Russian military police entered the “capital” of Islamists, militant leaders call for resistance (+ PHOTOS)

And all these days the terrorists kept our heroes in suspense and constant combat readiness.

The platoon commander also said that the enemy carried out mortar fire every day. In addition, drones reconnoitered the area, flying over the positions of our fighters.

The footage shows military equipment that was evacuated from a post near Idlib. A water carrier damaged by shrapnel cannot be restored. A mine fired by terrorists exploded near him. Before surrounding the observation post of Russian military personnel, the militants fired at it with artillery guns.

The intense shelling lasted about 1.5 hours. The bandits deliberately first destroyed the roads leading to the post in order to cut off the escape routes and the approach of mechanized reinforcements. After this, the enemy surrounded Russian military police and soldiers of the SAR Armed Forces.

During the shelling, several SAA soldiers were slightly wounded. But the situation of our heroes became more and more difficult every minute. After the mortar strikes, the terrorists launched an offensive using tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. But the situation was saved by the special forces of the Russian Ministry of Defense who arrived in time. Special operations forces were the first to come to the aid of the encircled.

“It was in our direction that we counted about 4-5 tanks and the same number of infantry fighting vehicles. Each infantry fighting vehicle contained about 8–10 people. Plus there was still infantry coming. I suppose about 90–100 people went to our positions,” MTR soldier Maxim says in an interview.

A relief group has been created and operates as part of the Special Operations Forces; its goal is to break through to units surrounded by the enemy. During this mission, soldiers of this special group repelled several militant attacks.

The rescue operation was covered from the air by Su-25 Grach attack aircraft, which destroyed the terrorists' heavy equipment, which greatly facilitated breaking the blockade. After powerful airstrikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces, a platoon of military police in armored vehicles abandoned their positions. The participants in this battle admit that good military training, coordination and a little luck helped them survive.

“A miracle plus our commander. My wife called and conveyed great respect to him,” said Corporal Andrei Vladykin.

“I wouldn't say it's luck. These are coordinated actions of personnel who have already been in such situations,” senior lieutenant Alexander Samoilov, commander of the military police platoon, disagreed.

The rescued platoon is currently on vacation at a military base. And the wounded soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army are in the hospital for treatment. Several Russian special forces soldiers who were injured during the rescue mission are also undergoing treatment.

This rescue operation is called unique. It was very difficult to win a victory with a small number of sanitary losses in such difficult conditions. Let us recall that the Russian Ministry of Defense announced yesterday that some of the military personnel were nominated by the command for state awards.

*Terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation

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Reading time: 6 minutes. Published 09/22/2017

Syria, news September 22, 2017. Syria, video: the first minutes of the battle between military police and terrorists near Hama. The Russian military is considered by the Ministry of Defense to be the main target of the terrorist offensive near Hama. Most likely, the militants planned to encircle or even capture Russian troops in order to later use them as a tool in trade, trying to stop the offensive east of Deir ez-Zor.

Moreover, according to the Ministry of Defense, the militants’ actions were initiated by American intelligence services. The essence of the complaint against the Americans is the transfer of information to the jihadists, which allowed them to carry out an offensive operation. True, this could have happened involuntarily, that is, out of stupidity. The only alarming thing is that the Americans and radical Islamists still have communication channels through which top-secret information can be leaked, wittingly or unwittingly.

By order of the commander of the Russian group in Syria, Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, a special forces detachment with massive support from the Aerospace Forces moved to the aid of the encircled detachment. The detachment that came out to help was led by the deputy head of the Russian center for the reconciliation of warring parties, Major General Viktor Shulyak. Syrian special forces also took part in the operation. Direct air support was provided by two Su-25 attack aircraft, which attacked enemy concentrations from extremely low altitudes.

As a result, the encirclement was broken, and all Russian military personnel were evacuated without casualties, although three special forces soldiers were wounded.

Before special forces arrived, a military police unit spent several hours fending off jihadist attacks along with the friendly Mu'ali tribe, which had signed the demilitarized zone agreement. Corporal of the military police of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Andrei Vladykin. According to him, “it all started according to the classics.” “After the mortar attack, they began to advance with pickup trucks, and pickup trucks with machine guns rolled out for direct fire,” he said. Two units of militant equipment were disabled even before the special forces arrived.

After the successful completion of the special operation, a counter-offensive by the Syrian troops began, actively supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces. Units of the 5th Airborne Assault Corps of the Syrian government army completely eliminated the jihadist breakthrough and restored the lost position.

At the same time, the scale of enemy losses is staggering. that in one day, aviation and artillery strikes destroyed 187 militant targets, about 850 terrorists, 11 tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, 46 pickup trucks, five mortars, 20 trucks and 38 weapons depots.

It is worth noting that on Thursday a powerful explosion occurred in the center of Idlib. A mushroom cloud was visible. According to some sources, it was an explosives production plant that exploded, but what exactly caused the explosion has not yet been established.

In addition, the jihadists attempted to attack Kurdish positions in the Hasakah region, something they had not attempted to do for a very long time.

Meanwhile, near Deir ez-Zor itself, the attack on which Al-Nusra tried to stop by attacking the Russian military, units of the 113th and 137th brigades of the 17th division successfully crossed to the eastern bank of the Euphrates in the direction of the oil fields of Al-Nusra. Umar. And the 5th Legion, with the support of artillery, first occupied the village of Marat, and on Thursday liberated the city of Mazlum, as a result of which the bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Euphrates was seriously expanded.

At the same time, government troops twice came under fire from unknown artillery, presumably from Kurdish positions. However, the Kurds do not have multiple launch rocket systems; only American missile defense systems, which previously worked in Raqqa, can be in this area.

Russian military representatives have already conveyed to the American command located at the al-Udeid airbase in Qatar a formal warning about the inadmissibility of shelling government troops from the Kurdish position.

In turn, the American side accused the Russian Aerospace Forces of attacking the positions of the Kurds themselves and is actively blaming it on Twitter for some wounded people.

This had to happen sooner or later, given the current system of command of American troops in the region. At the instigation of President Donald Trump, they have received too much power and independence - and too often they abuse this in an attempt to “make history.”

If the leak of operational information about the location of Russian checkpoints near Idlib province by the Americans is confirmed, this could have far-reaching consequences. In just one day, Russian special forces, the Aerospace Forces and Syrian government troops literally filled a small area of ​​the desert in the northeast of Hama province with the corpses of jihadists.

It is unlikely that a second attempt to capture the Russians will be received more calmly.

Al-Nusra's counter-offensive from Idlib looks like agony. Being in this state, jihadists will snap back as brutally as possible and use any information that falls into their hands.

The video captured the moment terrorists fired mortars at a police post.

Judging by the footage, at that moment the military were in contact with the command post, but due to the density of fire they could not indicate the coordinates of the terrorist positions from which the shelling was conducted.

“Completely in a circle, completely in a circle, I can’t report. They are firing mortars from all sides. It doesn’t just stop,” one of the police officers says in the video.

Syria, video: the first minutes of the battle between military police and terrorists near Hama

Details of how the battle began between Russian military personnel who were surrounded were told by one of the military police officers.

“The task was very difficult, the militants launched an attack with lightning speed. Literally five minutes later they were already somewhere 300-400 meters from our forward position. We had to fight back, shoot from anti-tank weapons and grenade launchers. We, as part of the four lead patrol, destroyed one infantry fighting vehicle with the enemy,” he said.

“Subsequently there was a second wave of enemy attack, they tried to get around us from the left flank. We regrouped and threw all our forces onto the left flank. All this was under mortar and artillery fire,” the soldier added.

He also clarified that one and a half to two hours before the start of the attack by the militants, there was shelling at the positions of the Russian military police, which was artillery preparation for the terrorists before the attack.

According to the serviceman, when they practically had no anti-tank weapons left, they saw that an enemy infantry fighting vehicle was moving towards them. “The driver-mechanic (BMP) was in the “stowed” position, that is, his head was sticking out. Due to this, we destroyed it and the infantry fighting vehicle stopped literally 20 meters from our forward positions,” he concluded.

The commander of the evacuation group, Lieutenant Colonel Valentin Kochesokov, told the details of the operation to rescue the Russian military from the ring of militants.

“After receiving the report, the group commander decided to evacuate this post. I headed the evacuation group that arrived at them. According to the evacuation plan, we were supposed to meet at an appointed place, where we moved with an armored group, with cover, and helped them evacuate to the collection point,” said the lieutenant colonel.

He noted that the Russian military personnel, despite the incessant all-round shelling for many hours, did not give in to panic, acted clearly and harmoniously, and competently repelled attempted attacks by militants.

“The morale was normal, combative. There was no panic, people held the defense normally, acted clearly, according to the combat crew, they came out from under fire,” Kochesokov said.

The commander of the evacuation group noted the importance of the support of Russian aviation and armored vehicles, which cleared the corridor and the release squad managed to break through the ring of terrorists and fight to remove the police from the encirclement.

Repelling an enemy attack, withdrawing from encirclement, destroying almost 900 terrorists, air support - the Russian Ministry of Defense reported a unique special operation in the area of ​​the Syrian city of Idlib. Together with a detachment of Russian military police, local tribes held the defense, and as a result, the militants suffered a crushing defeat, and the participants in the operation were presented with state awards.

And less than a week had passed since the signing of the agreement on the creation of a de-escalation zone in Syrian Idlib, when the militants of Jabhat al-Nusra, banned in Russia, went on the offensive in the area. According to the Ministry of Defense, the day before at eight in the morning, with the support of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, terrorists launched an attack on the positions of government troops east of the city of Hama. During the day they managed to penetrate the defense to a depth of 12 kilometers, and at the front, as the military says, up to 20 kilometers.

“According to available data, these offensives were initiated by American intelligence services to stop the successful advance of government troops east of Deir ez-Zor. At the same time, one of the main goals of the militants’ action was an attempt to capture a Russian military police unit of 29 military personnel, performing a task at an observation post deployed in this area as a control force, a de-escalation force,” said the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Sergei Rudskoy.

As a result, the unit found itself surrounded. For several hours, a platoon of military police repelled militant attacks. The Ministry of Defense separately emphasizes that a detachment of the Moali tribe, which signed the ceasefire agreement, also fought alongside the Russian military personnel. At the headquarters of the group of Russian troops in Syria, they urgently prepared a group to break through the ring, including the participation of Syrian special forces and, of course, aviation.

“Air strikes were carried out against terrorists. The actions of the relief detachment were constantly supported by a pair of Su-25 attack aircraft, striking at the militants' manpower and armored targets from extremely low altitudes. As a result, the encirclement ring was broken. And units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation fought without losses and entered the area where government troops were located. During the operation, three special operations forces soldiers were injured. All participants in this unique operation were nominated for state awards. In general, the measures taken by the Russian command together with the Syrian General Staff stopped the terrorist offensive. And they suffered significant damage,” said Sergei Rudskoy.

The militants, according to the Ministry of Defense, lost 11 tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, 46 pickup trucks, aircraft destroyed 38 weapons depots, and 850 terrorists were also killed in 24 hours. The General Staff says: Syrian troops launched a counter-offensive and practically regained their lost positions.

Experts attribute the militants’ attempt to break through precisely with the successful offensive of the government army and allies - the day before they began to gain a foothold on the left bank of the Euphrates.

To the east of Deir ez-Zor, about 60 square kilometers have already been cleared of terrorists, and at the same time the Ministry of Defense says: the so-called armed opposition, surprisingly, is trying to prevent the liberation of Syria from the Islamic State group with the full support of the Western coalition , which, in turn, seems ready to do anything except the promised assault on Raqqa; this city has been called the capital of terrorists for several years.