Military operation Russia in Syria lasted almost two years and ended with the almost complete destruction of terrorists on the territory of the Arab Republic. It is quite possible that it would have taken much longer to achieve the assigned tasks if not for the dedication of Russian military personnel, who even today maintain order in the Middle East.

"Russian Rambo"

March 17, 2016. Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko, who spent a week alone correcting the fire of Russian aviation in the very rear of the enemy in the Palmyra area, was surrounded by terrorists. The militants spotted his hiding place and tried to take the military man prisoner. But he accepted an unequal battle and at a time when the ammunition was already running out, he asked the command to launch an airstrike at his coordinates.

Western media, delighted with the actions of Alexander Prokhorenko, called him “Russian Rambo”. However, some Russians found the parallel with the Hollywood character offensive. For them, he is a Hero of Russia, who gave his life serving his Motherland.

However, no matter what the senior lieutenant is called, his words “I call fire upon myself” have become a symbol of selflessness not only in our country, but throughout the world.

One against 200

June 3, 2016. Captain Marat Akhmetshin, according to his father, carried out a combat mission near Palmyra - apparently, he acted as a military instructor. At the time of the attack by militants of the Islamic State terrorist group banned in Russia, the serviceman found himself alone against 200 people.

The terrorists have tanks and armored personnel carriers, Akhmetshin has grenades and four guns. But this did not stop the captain from giving battle and knocking out several pieces of equipment.

As a result of the collision, the soldier received several fatal wounds, but when help arrived, he was still alive. In his hands was a grenade without a pin, which Akhmetshin would certainly have used if the ISIS fighters had approached.

The captain's feat remained a mystery for a long time. His funeral was held in secrecy on June 6. According to the official version voiced to the family, he “died while performing a combat mission as part of a military contingent in Syria.”

However, on June 23, the Russian President awarded Akhmetshin the title of Hero of Russia “for courage and heroism in performing special tasks.” And only six months after this, scant details of what happened to the captain became known to the media.

16 warriors in the field

May 2017. By closed presidential decree, four fighters of the Force group special purpose awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Their positions and call signs are unknown, only names and ranks: Daniil, Evgeniy, Roman and Vyacheslav - two lieutenant colonels and two captains.

Some time ago, they and 12 other people fought against several hundred militants. The group received the task of moving to the region of Aleppo province, from where information was received about the increasing attacks of Jabhat al-Nusra (an organization banned in Russia - editor's note) on the defensive positions of government forces. She was tasked with conducting reconnaissance and identifying the coordinates of areas where enemy equipment and manpower were concentrated.

During the operation, the Russian military was suddenly attacked by militants. The terrorists fired at them from Grad launchers, cannons, mortars and even tanks. Due to the confusion, the Syrian troops retreated, leaving the special forces group alone in the forward positions.

There were about three hundred attackers. All of them, as it turned out later, were well equipped. On the first day of defense, the Russians repulsed four terrorist attacks, destroying a tank, a suicide car with a bulldozer covering it, and a Zu-23 anti-aircraft gun on the vehicle.

In total, the group held out for more than a day until government troops arrived. Thus, Russian military personnel retained possession of strategically important heights and may have saved dozens of Syrian army soldiers. It is not for nothing that at the presentation of the award the president wrote in his own hand: “I will present it personally.”

“This is for the boys!”

February 3, 2018. Guard Major Roman Filipov flew over the Idlib de-escalation zone. Near the city of Serakib, his Su-25SM was shot down by a shot from a portable anti-aircraft missile system - presumably a Soviet Igla or an American Stinger.

After unsuccessful attempts to keep the plane in the air, the pilot decided to eject. Upon landing, Filipov found himself surrounded by militants: judging by the terrorists’ records, there were at least ten of them. Taking a position behind a boulder, the guard major fired back at the attackers with his only weapon, a Stechkin pistol, and was wounded. In a cruel irony, the pilot’s second magazine jammed halfway, which is why he was short of several much-needed rounds.

When the militants got very close, Roman Filipov, hoping to catch several jihadists, blew himself up with a grenade. In the video filmed by the militants, he can clearly be heard shouting: “This is for the boys!”

In a retaliatory high-precision strike, the Russian military killed three dozen militants in the square where the plane crashed. A few days later, the guard major was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

Know ours

It is hardly possible to list all the feats accomplished by our guys in Syria. The number of Heroes of Russia who received this title for their actions in the Arab Republic has already exceeded two dozen. Some of them received the award posthumously, like the same Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov, whose plane was shot down by a Turkish fighter, or Ryafagat Khabibullin, who trained pilots for the Syrian operation and died in a helicopter crash near Palmyra.

To some, like another gunner, Corporal Denis Portnyagin, who, together with his group, held out for unequal battle, lucky to be alive.

Of course, there are many representatives of “high offices” among the Heroes. But even more - ordinary soldiers who daily carried out their duty thousands of kilometers from their homeland, risking own life. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of them.

And let no one have the right to rank specific actions of the military according to the degree of heroism. But every Russian can confidently call the liberation of the country from terrorists the main feat of his compatriots in Syria.

It was thanks to soldiers and officers from Russia, ordinary pilots, instructors and sappers that the republic, which was on the verge of collapse just a few years ago, got a chance to move on to peaceful restoration.

It was thanks to them that the terrorist threat did not spread throughout the world and was destroyed almost in its infancy.

On July 8, 2016, in Syria, militants of the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation shot down an attack helicopter piloted by Russian pilot instructors. Both crew members were killed - Colonel Ryafagat Khabibulin and Lieutenant Evgeniy Dolgin.

Taking into account this incident, the combat losses of personnel and equipment of the Russian Armed Forces during the operation in Syria amounted to a total of 12 people, two helicopters (Mi-8 and Mi-28N) and one aircraft (Su-24M).

Fedor Zhuravlev

The officer ensured the guidance of air-launched cruise missiles at terrorist positions; the details of his death are unknown.

The loss was officially confirmed on March 17, 2016 at the award ceremony for the operation participants.

A school near Bryansk was named after a Russian officer who died in Syria. He was buried in his native village, where his mother now lives.

Oleg Peshkov

On November 24, 2015, a Su-24M front-line bomber (tail number “83 white”, registration number RF-90932) of the Special Aviation Group of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria was shot down by an F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Turkish Air Force in Syrian airspace.

The pilots managed to eject, fire was opened on them from the ground, and the pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov, was killed.

According to the Turkish side, the bomber was shot down due to violation of the air border of this country. The Russian Ministry of Defense denied the fact that the Su-24M was in Turkish airspace.

The navigator of the downed bomber, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin, was rescued by special forces of the Russian Armed Forces and the Syrian army. Awarded the Order of Courage.

On November 25, 2015, by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero Russian Federation.

The name of the Hero of Russia is immortalized on a memorial plaque in the village of Kosikha near Barnaul, where he was born and raised. The memorial "To fellow countrymen who died in local conflicts", where his name is included, is located on the Alley of Heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

Chapter Altai Territory Alexander Karlin reported that three monthly personalized scholarships named after Hero of Russia Oleg Peshkov for students at the Altai boarding school with primary flight training them. Hero Soviet Union K.G. Pavlyukova.

The pilot's name will be assigned new school Lipetsk No. 100. An aviation museum will be created there.
On June 12, a monument to Oleg Peshkov was unveiled in the Amur region.

"He was a dedicated, brave, highly qualified pilot. Everyone he taught speaks of him as a very good instructor who could explain everything."
Konstantin Murakhtin
Navigator of the Su-24M bomber shot down in Syria, major

Alexander Pozynich

On November 24, 2015, Russian Aerospace Forces helicopters flew out to search for the pilots of the downed Su-24M bomber; during the operation, one of them (Mi-8AMTSh) was damaged by shelling from the ground. A contract marine, sailor Alexander Pozynich, died on board.

The helicopter made an emergency landing on neutral territory, the crew and personnel The search and rescue group were evacuated, the car itself was later destroyed by mortar fire from the territory controlled by the gangs.

Sailor Alexander Pozynich (posthumously) was awarded the order Courage.

Pozynich was buried on the Alley military glory hometown Novocherkassk.

Memorial plaques in memory of the Su-24M bomber commander Oleg Peshkov and marine Alexander Pozynich who died in Syria were installed on the Amur federal highway (Chita - Khabarovsk) near the village of Vozzhaevka, Amur Region.

“By saving his comrades, Alexander Mikhailovich defended the country, the city, the family. He fulfilled his duty in full, giving his life for peace and tranquility. It was decided that school No. 11 in the city of Novocherkassk, where Pozynich studied, will be named after him.”
Vasily Golubev
Governor of the Rostov region

Ivan Cheremisin

On February 1, 2016, as a result of a mortar attack by IS terrorists on one of the Syrian army formations, Russian military adviser Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Cheremisin was mortally wounded.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the officer performed tasks to assist the Syrian army in the development of new weapons supplied under existing interstate contracts for military-technical cooperation.

For the first time, Ivan Cheremisin became officially known on March 17, 2016 at the award ceremony for the participants in the operation.
The serviceman was posthumously nominated for a state award.

Alexander Prokhorenko

Senior Lieutenant of the Special Operations Forces Alexander Prokhorenko died on March 24, 2016 in the area settlement Tadmor (Palmyra, Homs province) while carrying out the task of directing attacks by Russian aircraft on the targets of ISIS terrorists.

According to a representative of the Russian base of Khmeimim in Syria, “the serviceman died heroically, causing fire on himself after he was discovered by terrorists and surrounded.”

The authorities of Orenburg decided to name one of the city streets after Prokhorenko.

Prokhorenko was born on June 22, 1990 in the Orenburg region into a working-class family. In 2007, he graduated from the Gorodets secondary school with a silver medal, entered the Orenburg Higher Anti-Aircraft Missile School, and in 2008, due to the closure of the school, he was transferred to the Military Academy of Military Air Defense of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, from which he graduated with honors.

Andrey Okladnikov and Victor Pankov

On April 12, 2016, a Mi-28N helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces crashed while flying in the area of ​​Homs.

Both crew members - commander Andrei Okladnikov and navigator Viktor Pankov - died.

According to the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense, “there was no fire impact on the helicopter”; the cause of the disaster was a pilot error.

Anton Erygin

On May 5, he was seriously injured in the Syrian province of Homs while carrying out tasks to escort vehicles of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties and died in the hospital two days later.

Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.

Andrey Timoshenkov

On June 15, 2016, in Homs province, Andrei Timoshenkov, a serviceman guarding a humanitarian convoy of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, prevented a breakthrough to the extradition site humanitarian aid car filled with explosives.

In the explosion of a car driven by a suicide bomber, Timoshenkov received a wound incompatible with life and died on June 16.

Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.

Mikhail Shirokopoyas

He was sent to Syria in April 2016, and a month later he was wounded by a mine explosion in Aleppo province.

The serviceman underwent surgery in Moscow, but he died on June 7 at the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after. N.N. Burdenko.

Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.

Ryafagat Khabibulin and Evgeniy Dolgin

On July 8, 2016, in the Syrian province of Homs, Russian pilot instructors flew over a Syrian Mi-25 helicopter (export version of the Mi-24) with ammunition.

Having broken through the defenses east of Palmyra, a large detachment of IS militants attacked the positions of Syrian troops and rapidly advanced deeper into the area.

The Mi-25 crew decided to attack the terrorists. Having used up its ammunition, the helicopter, while turning back, was hit by fire from the ground and fell in an area controlled by the Syrian government army.

Both crew members were killed - pilot Colonel Ryafagat Khabibulin and pilot-operator Lieutenant Evgeniy Dolgin.

Military personnel are presented to high state awards posthumously.

Vadim Kostenko. Non-combat loss
On October 27, 2015, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the death of a technical specialist, contract soldier Vadim Kostenko, who committed suicide at the Khmeimim airbase.

According to the military department, the cause of death of the 19-year-old contract soldier was suicide “during off-duty time due to the unfavorable personal circumstances of the serviceman outside the unit.”

09:13 17.04.2016

Surrounded by ISIS terrorists (a terrorist organization banned in Russia), a special operations officer drew fire on himself. He destroyed the terrorists, but died himself... In the Western press they called him the Russian Rambo, comparing him with a hero from an American action movie, when one is a warrior against all odds. Brave, fearless, fair. It turned out to be a guy from the Orenburg outback - Alexander Prokhorenko. With an appearance far from the image of a Hollywood superman.

Surrounded by ISIS terrorists (a terrorist organization banned in Russia), a Special Operations Forces officer drew fire on himself. He destroyed the terrorists, but died himself... In the Western press they called him the Russian Rambo, comparing him with a hero from an American action movie, when one, against all odds, is a warrior. Brave, fearless, fair. It turned out to be a guy from the Orenburg outback - Alexander Prokhorenko. With an appearance far from the image of a Hollywood superman. On March 31, the head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy, reported on the special operation in Syria. Special Operations Forces officer Alexander Prokhorenko had died two weeks earlier. He never knew what an important role he played in the liberation of Palmyra. The ancient city is located in central Syria. From there, roads open to Damascus, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor. By the beginning of March, more than 4 thousand militants, up to 25 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, over 20 units of cannon and rocket artillery, about 100 ATGM systems, and more than 50 pickup trucks with heavy weapons settled near Palmyra. This is not counting mortars and small arms, trucks filled with explosives, zombified suicide bombers... During the entire operation, Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft attacked exclusively identified terrorist targets. Two rocket launchers According to the military, some objects are well camouflaged by the militants. Not everything is visible from the air. Therefore, scouts and gunners are thrown into the enemy’s lair. For a whole week the ISIS fighters did not know peace. They were bombed so hard that the work of the saboteurs was noticed. The game of cat and mouse has begun. The terrorists threw their best forces at this. Having discovered a Russian officer, they attacked. The way back was cut off by heavy fire. There was nowhere to wait for help. Alexander Prokhorenko found himself in a tight ring of encirclement... “During special operations in Chechnya, we were given two rocket launchers,” recalls Orenburg SOBR special forces soldier Igor Yakovlev (surname changed. - Ed.). “One of them fired green, which meant “our own.” Another gave red in the air. This was already perceived as “alien”. That is, only two signals to attract aviation. Of course, no one wanted to be captured. In the worst case scenario, they shot back to the last bullet. And if the horn ran out, they would engage in hand-to-hand combat. Being captured was considered equal to a death sentence - they did not spare prisoners. It's the same in Syria. I understand the fighter perfectly. ISIS would never have left him alive...From March 7 to March 27, the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out about 500 combat missions. More than 2,000 targeted air strikes were carried out against ISIS terrorists. Following a tip from the ground, the planes tore apart the militants' bridgeheads and artillery at all dominant heights. They cut off the terrorists' supply of fuel and ammunition from neighboring Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. On March 23, units of the Syrian army again went on the offensive. Four days later, complete control was established over Palmyra. "We don't know anything!" In Sasha Prokhorenko’s homeland, in the Russian outback (the village of Gorodki, Orenburg region), they only know about the war in distant Syria from television screens. But the villagers perceived the pain of Sasha’s parents, who lost their beloved son, as a personal grief. In a village of 600 residents, everyone knows each other and perfectly remembers the guy who, as a child, played ball with the neighbor kids... To find out about Alexander, we went to Gorodki. The road to the regional center is normal, but to the village it is a bumpy dirt road. For about 10 kilometers it winds between birches and hills. The Cossack village of Gorodki is located at the end of a long grove. - Could you tell me where Prokhorenko’s house is? - we ask the first passerby we come across. “Yes, there he is, on the outskirts,” the man waved his hand. Brick house, silver-painted gate. There is not a soul on the street, not even the dogs bark. We knock on the door. No use. We want to leave, but suddenly it opens. The owner is a man of few words and immediately invites you into the house. - Come in, since you came from afar. The conversation is unlikely to work out... The room is bright. It feels homely and warm. A photograph of Alexander Prokhorenko is in the most prominent place. Next to the portrait there are icons, a wax candle is burning. Sasha’s mother Natalya Leonidovna is wearing a black scarf and crying all the time. We get a copy of Komsomolskaya Pravda. We show a note about the feat of a Russian officer. The father incredulously takes the newspaper in his hands, nervously flips through it, putting on his glasses. He reads fluently and greedily. “The military reported the death of their son without details, we know nothing,” says Alexander the eldest. - I’ll only say one thing - this is a grievous loss for us... Soul - to God, heart - to a woman, duty - to the Fatherland, honor - to no one! This is an old Cossack motto. Alexander Prokhorenko Jr. has followed him since childhood. He chose a career as an officer while still a schoolboy. I studied mostly excellently. He was interested in exact disciplines and emphasized physical education. IN free time helped my parents or went out with friends. Fortunately, the village of Gorodki, where Sasha was born and raised, is friendly. People don't just know each other. Families are bound by long-standing Cossack traditions. Here they sacredly honor the behests of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers. “For us he was Prokha,” say friends of Alexander Prokhorenko. “Fair, decent, kind.” He graduated from school in 2007 with a silver medal. With an excellent certificate I entered Smolensk military academy air defense. “He studied easily, graduated with honors,” recalls the hero’s friend Evgeniy. “All the residents of the village were happy for him. By the way, his younger brother Vanya is also in Smolensk. He is 19, he is a second-year student at the same military almamater. “Sasha’s wife’s name is Katya,” the Gorodetsky village council reported. - You can’t even imagine how happy he was! He loved his wife very much, took care of her, and gave her expensive gifts. They even look somewhat similar to him. “Aren’t you brother and sister?” - they joked at their wedding... “There was a hero in our village who died while fulfilling his international duty in Afghanistan,” recalls local resident Natalya, wiping away her tears. - Now the whole world has learned about Gorodki because of the heroic death of Sasha. Sasha’s dad, our best mechanic, took it all painfully. He was one of our frontline workers, and Sasha’s mother works as a cleaner in the village administration. They don’t communicate with anyone now. “You understand, until Sasha’s body is buried, we would not like to talk about him,” says one of the teachers. - When the time comes, we’ll tell you everything. And we'll have a memorial evening. In our school museum we have a cap that Sasha left to his brother. Alexander graduated from school 9 years ago, in 2007, with a silver medal. The guy was not only very smart, but also very athletic. He played lapta masterfully, was distinguished by his endurance, and always came first in cross-country games. They will do anything for the family This was stated by the Governor of the Orenburg Region Yuri Berg. On March 30, he visited the parents of Alexander Prokhorenko: he personally expressed condolences and inquired about the problems. The grief of the family cannot be expressed in words,” noted Yuri Alexandrovich upon returning. - Words of support were sent to the hero’s parents on behalf of all residents of the Orenburg region. Alexander gave his life, causing fire on himself. We mourn together over the death of our fellow countryman, his name will forever remain in our hearts. The memory of Alexander Prokhorenko, a simple Orenburg guy who gave his life for life on earth, will be immortalized, said Yuri Berg. - A street in Orenburg will be named after the hero.

IN big cities and small villages of Russia there are monuments to fallen internationalist soldiers. Having accepted a heroic death on foreign soil, they returned home and forever became a symbol of fidelity to military duty. The children and grandchildren of the first internationalist warriors grew up. Many people put on military uniform, proving that the continuity of generations is not an empty phrase. Some today in Syria are defending the world and the country from international terrorists who have sentenced all humanity to death. Thirteen soldiers and officers returned from a Syrian mission ahead of schedule, having fallen in a battle with ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation). But they did not fall unknown and abandoned - the Motherland remembers them and mourns.

Here is a sad list of fallen heroes killed in Syria:

19 year old contract soldierVadim Kostenko, died October 24, 2015;
- 27 year old gunnerFedor Zhuravlev, died November 19, 2015;
- 45-year-old bomber commanderOleg Peshkovand a 29-year-old MarineAlexander Pozynich , died November 24, 2015;
- 42 year old military instructorIvan Cheremisin, died February 1, 2016;
- 25 year old gunnerAlexander Prokhorenko, died March 17, 2016;
- 38-year-old helicopter commanderAndrey Okladnikovand helicopter navigatorVictor Pankovdied April 12, 2016;
- 31-year-old signalmanAnton Erygin, died May 7, 2016;
- 35-year-old artillerymanMikhail Shirokopoyas, died June 7, 2016;
- 28 year old MarineAndrey Timoshenkov, died June 16, 2016;

The freshest wound is military pilot instructors Ryafagat Khabibullin And Evgeniy Dolgin. They died on July 8. The crew commander, Colonel Khabibullin, turned 51, and his partner, Lieutenant Zhenya Dolgin, only managed to celebrate his 24th birthday.

Photo: Vladimir ANOSOV / RG

Both graduated from the Syzran helicopter program, in different years, of course. But both understood the combat mission correctly. They were flying over in an MI-25 helicopter when they asked for help from the ground. The terrorists went on the offensive and broke through the defenses of government troops. The crew did not waste time thinking. The Defense Department about this reported in dry language, essentially:

The son of the crew commander, Ruslan Khabibullin, followed in his father’s footsteps, also a military man. And he says just as briefly:

“My father died as a hero, having done everything he could. He taught us to go only forward and always remain human. I ask young people to once again look at their father’s example and try to be like him.”

Dozens of young pilots, who were trained as “pilots from God,” carry out this order with dignity.

“One day he took his little son into the cockpit of a helicopter. Since then, Evgeniy simply fell in love with a rotorcraft and firmly decided: I will fly!”

The guy didn't have time for one thing— to celebrate the first wedding anniversary with my Katyusha, they just got married in August.When the operation in Syria began, Katya asked him:“Zhen, aren’t you afraid?”, and he answered: “Why be afraid? This is my profession, this is what I studied.”

I wonder if it’s possible to learn a feat “professionally”? If there was such a special course, Sasha Prokhorenko would definitely get an “excellent” for it.

What was the senior lieutenant, surrounded by terrorists and causing fire on himself, thinking about, who was he remembering at the last minute of his life? Maybe the old Cossack motto that his father taught him: “Soul to God, heart to woman, duty to the Fatherland, honor to no one.”

Or his native village of Gorodki in the Orenburg region, which as a child he avoided far and wide with his bare feet. Or his wife Katya, with whom they were so similar that they were even considered brother and sister. Or maybe his younger brother Vanya, who, following Alexander’s example, entered the Smolensk Military Academy of Air Defense and is a second-year student. He must have managed to get his mother and father... But he probably didn’t count how many terrorist bastards he would take with him. Why spend the remaining time on them? All I knew was that there were a lot of them.

“For the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, award the title of Hero of the Russian Federation to senior lieutenant Alexander Alexandrovich Prokhorenko (posthumously).” Appreciated by the Motherland last feat officer Russian forces special operations.

Our military in Syria accomplished a feat. They held back the terrorists, who were almost 20 times more numerous, for about two days. And they forced them to retreat, ending this battle themselves without losses. Details became known today, May 10. There are few of them, but they are from the participants in the operation themselves, which is strictly classified.

Only names and titles. No call signs, no last names, no details by which the identities of the officers could be established; this is the main condition for interviews with journalists. All four are from the Special Operations Forces, an elite unit Russian army, and, judging by the order bars, all with a rich track record. One of the officers, for example, has the Order of Courage, two medals “For Military Distinction,” and an award “For Military Valor.”

Special Operations Forces are a unique unit. A combination of combat experience, the latest weapons and equipment, fine calculation and dedication. Their specialty is sabotage and reconnaissance operations. They are where the enemy least expects a strike. In Syria, this unit is used for reconnaissance and targeting aircraft.

That day, the officers say, everything was as usual - they secretly reached the front line in the province of Aleppo, gained a foothold, and began transmitting the coordinates of their targets, when they were suddenly attacked by militants.

“Massive artillery shelling of our positions began, Grad installations, artillery, mortars, and tank shelling were used,” the serviceman said.

It was a real firestorm, the military recalls. Due to internal inconsistency in actions, the Syrian units withdrew. Our group commander had a few seconds to make a decision.

“Due to the fact that the terrain and shelter allowed for combat and this area of ​​the terrain was of strategic importance, we took up defensive positions and accepted the battle. We repelled the first attack, and there were three or four more attacks during the day,” the officer said.

“The fire density was high, but, as they say, it’s scary only in the first minutes, and then it’s just a banal routine,” said another serviceman.

16 of our fighters held back the onslaught of about 300 militants for almost two days. Accurate fire destroyed an enemy tank, two infantry fighting vehicles and a so-called “shahid mobile” filled with explosives with a suicide bomber inside.

“An armored bulldozer is ahead, followed by an infantry fighting vehicle loaded with explosives. The operator hit the infantry fighting vehicle with the first missile, the explosion was very strong, and as a result the bulldozer in front was disabled,” the military man said.

Losses among the militants were so serious that after a dozen unsuccessful attacks they retreated. There are no losses among us. After inspecting the battlefield, it turned out that they were terrorists from Jabhat al-Nusra, banned in our country, most likely professional mercenaries.

“They were very carefully equipped, everything was imported - property, all imported medicine, imported clothing, even down to the black military personnel. And the way they behaved on the battlefield showed that they were well prepared,” the officer said.

“GoPro on heads, on helmets. Apparently, reports are submitted somewhere about the work done,” the military man noted.

“We have a good advantage in weapons and well-trained guys who are not afraid. They fought and clearly carried out the tasks assigned by me, only thanks to these factors it turned out that we came out without losses,” the officer said.

After a business trip to Syria, the officers received a short leave, and their dream came true - they attended the Victory Day Parade on Red Square. Vladimir Putin also spoke about the feat of the Russian military these days on May 9 at the Victory Parade in Moscow:

“We feel a bloody, piercing kinship with the generation of heroes and winners, and, addressing them, I will say: you will never be ashamed of us. The Russian, Russian soldier today, as at all times, showing courage and heroism, is ready for any feat, for any sacrifice for the sake of his homeland, for the sake of his people.”

At the Ministry of Defense building on Frunzenskaya Embankment, military personnel laid flowers at the monument to the heroes of the cult film “Officers” - the sculptural composition recreates one of the key scenes dedicated to the continuity of generations of military personnel. Two comrades meet after a long separation. The grandson of one of them, a cadet of the Suvorov Military School, salutes them.

All servicemen of the Special Operations Forces who distinguished themselves in battle in the province of Aleppo were presented with high state awards. The group commander was awarded the title of Hero of Russia.

On the presentation of the Ministry of Defense it is written in the president’s hand: “I agree. I’ll deliver it personally.”