Not knowing the ford

On March 20, the official representative of the Kurdish People's Defense Units in Syria, Ridur Khalil, announced that an agreement had been reached with Moscow on the Russian military presence in the area of ​​the city of Afrin. And this is not news at all.

In a written statement cited by Reuters, Khalil noted that it was about creating another Russian military base in Syria, which is intended for combat training of Kurdish units. According to Khalil, Russian servicemen in armored vehicles have already moved into the area.

The Russian Ministry of Defense immediately rushed to refute this information. But it did so in a very unique way. It did not deny the fact of the deployment of military personnel. However, it stated that this was not at all about the base, but about a branch of the Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties, which would monitor the ceasefire in the area where the Kurds were confronting the Syrian People's Army. The fact that this part of the opposition is actively supported by Turkey is no secret to anyone. By sending its military to the area, Moscow is clearly trying to prevent a possible Turkish attack on the positions of the Kurds. The same people are trying in every possible way to present relations with Russia almost as a military alliance. Which, of course, does not please Ankara. During a recent visit to Moscow, Turkish President Erdogan strongly demanded an end to contacts between Russia and the Kurds. In this situation, the Russian military in Afrin is actually turning into a kind of human shield. All hopes are that the Turks will not risk attacking the Kurds, fearing a military clash with Russia. However, Erdogan is certainly not the most predictable of the heads of state.

The events of a few days earlier called into question relations with another important Middle Eastern player, Israel. On March 17, four Israeli fighter jets near Palmyra attacked a Hezbollah convoy en route to Lebanon with a cargo of weapons. The Syrian air defense turned out to be powerless - the missiles of the S-200 complex were already sent in pursuit. One of them - already in Israeli airspace - was intercepted by the missile defense system. This raid immediately raised questions about the essence of the Russian-Israeli agreements to prevent possible incidents in Syria. In this country, there are Russian air defense systems, much more advanced than those in service with the Syrian army. However, they did not respond to Israeli aircraft in any way. If Jerusalem warned Moscow ahead of time and Russian air defenses allowed Israeli jets to strike, that doesn't look too good for the allies, the Assad regime and Hezbollah-sponsored Iran. If they simply overslept, then this discredits the effectiveness of Russian military equipment and specialists. Things look even worse if the data that Russian military personnel were in the strike zone are true.

Russia got into Syria in order to restore its status as a great power. And immediately became involved in new and old conflicts in the Middle East

In the end, the Israeli ambassador was summoned to the domestic Foreign Ministry. The Russian side, as Deputy Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said, expressed concern. “We have a special communication channel, and we would like this channel to work more efficiently and there would be no misunderstanding about who is doing what,” the diplomat emphasized, actually confirming that the previously reached agreements were not being implemented.

Russia got into Syria in order to restore its status as a great power. And immediately she became involved in new and old conflicts in the Middle East, such as the confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah or the struggle of the Kurds against Turkey. Unlike Moscow, the other participants in the Syrian conflict are defending truly vital interests, and they will frame the Kremlin whenever they need to. The price will have to be paid with the lives of Russian citizens. Reuters reported that 18 Russians have died in Syria since January 29, three times as many as were officially acknowledged...