Russian military advisers played an “active” role in planning the operation to free the ancient city of Palmyra from jihadists, while over 2,000 airstrikes conducted to support Syrian ground troops did not damage a single historic structure, Moscow says.
The entire operation to liberate the UNESCO World Heritage Site from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISISL/ISIS) militants took 22 days, starting on March 6 and ending on March 27, Lt. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy, head of operations at the Russian General Staff, reported on Thursday.
“Between March 7 and March 27 the Russian Air Force supported Syrian government units near Palmyra, conducted around 500 sorties and delivered over 2,000 airstrikes against ISIL,” he reported.