Vladimir Putin ordered to “act extremely harshly” and destroy any targets that threaten the group in Syria. He did not specify what threats he was referring to. After the Turkish attack on the Su-24, Putin sent the S-400 to Syria

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the annual expanded board of the Russian Ministry of Defense at the National Defense Management Center (Photo: Mikhail Metzel/TASS)

“I order you to act extremely harshly; any targets that threaten the Russian group or our ground infrastructure are subject to immediate destruction,” President Vladimir Putin said, speaking at an extended meeting of the Defense Ministry board, which was broadcast on the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Putin also warned “those who are again trying to organize any provocations against our military personnel.”

After the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber on the Turkish-Syrian border on November 24, Russia transferred S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria to the Khmeimim airfield, where Russian aviation is based. In addition, the cruiser Moskva, equipped with the Fort air defense system, similar to the S-300 air defense system, was stationed in the Latakia area. The tasks of the air defense systems deployed to Syria include protecting Russian aviation.

A new episode that contributed to increasing tensions between Turkey and Russia occurred last week, December 6th. The Turkish television channel NTV published a photo in which a man demonstrates a man-portable anti-aircraft missile system. The TV channel claimed that the photo shows a Russian military man who is allegedly on board the Russian large landing ship Caesar Kunikov. The incident led to the summons of the Russian ambassador in Ankara, Andrei Karlov, to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, where the head of the diplomatic mission was warned against repeating such incidents. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the incident does not violate international law.

Putin ordered the destruction of any targets threatening the group in Syria