Media: Russian military personnel were at Syrian airbase at the time of US missile strikes
Russian servicemen were at the Shayrat airbase when American missiles hit it, as reported by Russian RBC news agency citing an unnamed officer from the Syrian Army.
“There is not information about the casualties or wounded among the Russians, “ the officer said.
According to him, Russian military are still present at the air base.
The Syrian officer also indicated that the Syrian military command received the information about the forthcoming missile strikes of the US and managed to remove a large number of aircraft from the airfield.
The officer stated that four fighter aircraft and three helicopters that were undergoing service in the hangars were destroyed as a result of the missile attack. At the same time the Russian Ministry of Defense initially reported that half of the aircraft were destroyed.
According to the officer, some of the military equipment was transferred to T-4 airfield west of Palmyra in the province of Homs.
The Russian Ministry of Defense previously reported that six Syrian aircraft were destroyed during the strikes. The ministry stated that the effectiveness of the strike “was very low”. According to the Russian military command, half of the American cruise missiles didn’t reach their targets.
According to the Pentagon, out of 59 cruise missiles that were launched 58 reached their targets.