Russia’s special forces are involved in the Syrian campaign and have helped with locating targets for Russian warplanes, the general who commanded the entire operation has confirmed in an interview.
Col. Gen. Aleksandr Dvornikov is deputy commander of the Central Military District in Russia, and was selected to be chief of Russia’s campaign in Syria, which started in September last year. On Wednesday he spoke of previously undisclosed aspects of the operation in a rare interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
“I won’t deny that our Special Operations Forces (SOF) are deployed in Syria. They conduct ground reconnaissance of pre-selected targets for Russian warplanes, assist in targeting warplanes in remote areas and perform other tasks,” the general said.
“Take into account that corresponding forces from the US and other members of the [US-led] coalition are performing similar missions in Syria,” he added.