Terrorists Planning Attack on Russia's Syria Base Using Kamikaze Drones: MoD

Russia operates two military facilities in Syria - the naval facility in Tartus and the Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia Governorate. Khmeimim has come under terrorist fire repeatedly since its creation in 2015.

Terrorist militants in Syria are plotting an attack against the Khmeimim Air Base using long-range drones, Oleg Yegorov, deputy head of the Russian MoD's Center for Reconciliation in Syria, has announced.

"According to information received by the [Center for Reconciliation], militants from the Jahbat al-Nusra* and the Turkistan Islamic Party* are planning an attack on the Khmeimim Air Base using strike UAVs and kamikaze drones," Yegorov said at a briefing Friday.

The Russian officer said that a large number of drones intended for use in the attack had been assembled near Jisr ash-Shughur, a city in northwest Syria occupied by Nusra and the TIP, with some of the UAV having a range of up to 70 km.

According to the MoD's information, the terrorists likely plan to use some of the drones to try to divert the attention of Russian air defenses in order to strike at the base.

Between 2015 and 2017, the Russian air grouping at Khmeimim proved instrumental in assisting Syrian and Hezbollah ground forces and Iranian Quds Force advisors in freeing wide swathes of Syria from a cacophony of US-, Gulf State- and Turkish-backed terrorist groups and rebels attempting to overthrow the Syrian government.

* Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia. Al-Nusra, aka Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda.