Russia's military operations in Syria lasted almost two years and ended with the almost complete destruction of terrorists on the territory of the Arab Republic. It is quite possible that it would take much longer to achieve the fulfillment of the assigned tasks if it were not for the dedication of the Russian military, who today maintain order in the Middle East.
Russian Rambo
March 17, 2016. Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko, who had been single-handedly adjusting the fire of Russian aviation in the very rear of the enemy in the Palmyra region, was surrounded by terrorists for a week. The militants spotted his hideout and tried to take the soldier prisoner. But he took an unequal battle and at the moment when the ammunition was already running out, he asked the command to inflict an air strike on its coordinates.
Delighted by the act of Alexander Prokhorenko, Western media called him "Russian Rambo". However, for some Russians, the parallel with the Hollywood character seemed offensive. For them, he is a Hero of Russia, who gave his life serving the Motherland.
However, no matter how the senior lieutenant is called, his words "I call fire on myself" have become a symbol of selflessness not only in our country, but throughout the world.
One against 200
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June 3, 2016. Captain Marat Akhmetshin, according to his father, performed a combat mission near Palmyra - apparently, he performed the functions of a military instructor. At the time of the attack by the militants of the terrorist group "Islamic State" banned in Russia, the serviceman turned out to be one against 200 people.
The terrorists have tanks and armored personnel carriers, Akhmetshin has grenades and four cannons. But this did not prevent the captain from fighting and knocking out several pieces of equipment.
As a result of the collision, the soldier received several mortal wounds, but when help arrived, he was still alive. He had a grenade in his hands without a pin, which Akhmetshin would certainly have used if the ISIS members approached.
The captain's feat remained a secret for a long time. His funeral in secrecy took place on June 6. According to the official version announced to the family, he "died while performing a combat mission as part of a military contingent in Syria."
However, on June 23, the President of Russia awarded Akhmetshin the title of Hero of Russia "for courage and heroism in performing special tasks." And only six months after that, the media became aware of the meager details of what happened to the captain.
16 in the field of warriors
May 2017. By a closed presidential decree, four soldiers of the Special Forces group were awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Their positions and call signs are unknown, only their names and titles: Daniel, Evgeny, Roman and Vyacheslav - two lieutenant colonels and two captains.
Some time ago, they and 12 other people took a fight against several hundred militants. The group received the task to move to the area of Aleppo province, from where information came about the increasing attacks by Jabhat al-Nusra (banned in Russia organization - ed.) On the defensive positions of government forces. She was instructed to conduct reconnaissance and identify the coordinates of the places of accumulation of equipment and manpower of the enemy.
During the operation, the Russian military was suddenly attacked by militants. Terrorists fired at them from Grad installations, cannons, mortars and even tanks. Due to the confusion that arose, the Syrian troops withdrew, the special forces group was left alone in the forefront.
There were about three hundred attackers. All of them, as it turned out later, were well equipped. On the first day of the defense, the Russians repulsed four terrorist attacks, destroying a tank, a martyr's mobile with a bulldozer covering it and a Zu-23 anti-aircraft gun in the car.
All in all, the group held out for more than a day until government troops approached. This is how the Russian military retained possession over strategically important heights and, possibly, saved dozens of Syrian army soldiers. It was not for nothing that at the presentation for the award, the president wrote with his own hand: "I will hand it over personally."
This is for you guys
February 3, 2018. Major Roman Filipov flew over the Idlib de-escalation zone. Near the town of Serakib, his Su-25SM was shot down by a shot from a portable anti-aircraft missile system - presumably the Soviet "Needle" or the American "Stinger".
After unsuccessful attempts to keep the plane in the air, the pilot decided to eject. After landing, Filipov was surrounded by militants: judging by the records of the terrorists, there were at least ten of them. Taking up a position behind a boulder, the Major of the Guard fired back from the attackers from his only weapon - a Stechkin pistol, was wounded. Ironically, the pilot's second magazine was jammed in half, which is why he missed a few very useful cartridges.
When the militants got very close, Roman Filipov, hoping to catch several jihadists, blew himself up with a grenade. On the video filmed by the militants, you can clearly hear how before that he shouted: "This is for you guys!"
With a retaliatory high-precision strike, the Russian military destroyed three dozen militants in the square of the plane's fall. A few days later, the guard major was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.
Know our
It is hardly possible to list all the deeds performed by our guys in Syria. The number of Heroes of Russia who received this title for their actions in the Arab Republic has already exceeded two dozen. Some of them received an award posthumously, like the same Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov, whose plane was shot down by a Turkish fighter, or Ryafagat Khabibullin, who trained pilots for the Syrian operation and died in a helicopter crash near Palmyra.
Someone, like another gunner, corporal Denis Portnyagin, who, together with his group, held out in an unequal battle, was lucky to stay alive.
Of course, there are many representatives of "high offices" among the Heroes. But even more - ordinary soldiers who daily performed their duty thousands of kilometers from their homeland, risking their own lives. There are hundreds, if not thousands of them.
And let no one have the right to rank the specific actions of the military according to the degree of heroism. But every Russian can confidently call the liberation of the country from terrorists the main feat of his compatriots in Syria.
It is thanks to the soldiers and officers from Russia, ordinary pilots, instructors and sappers that the republic, which was on the verge of collapse a few years ago, got a chance to move on to peaceful reconstruction.
It was thanks to them that the terrorist threat did not spread throughout the world and was practically destroyed in the bud.
Ivan Roschepiy