Helping Hand

Report: Russian ‘Civilians’ Helping Assad Used Military Base in Russia

Kremlin has repeatedly distanced itself from Russians in Syria.

It may have just become a bit harder for the Kremlin to deny it has anything to do with the Russian civilians fighting in Syria after reporters witnessed groups of men flying in from the Syrian capital and head straight to a Russian defense ministry base. Reuters reported that, on three occasions over the past month, its journalists saw men fly in from Damascus and head to a military base in Molkino, in southwestern Russia. Reuters describes the incidents as “rare evidence of a covert Russian mission in Syria beyond the airstrikes, training of Syrian forces, and small numbers of special forces troops acknowledged by Moscow.” The Kremlin has repeatedly distanced itself from the Russians fighting in Syria. A duty officer at the Molkino base said: “Nobody enters it, as far as I am aware... You’ve seen them, OK. But you should not believe everything... You can maybe. But how can we comment on what other organizations do?"