Exporter: Russia Sending Air and Sea Defenses to Syria

Weapons Meant to Deter NATO Attacks

Russia’s chief exporter Anatoly Isaykin discussed the controversial issue of arms exports to Syria today, revealing that, as other Russian officials had indicated, the arms being shipped are air defense and naval defense weaponry.

The US had been claiming Russia was sending attack helicopters and other weaponry to crack down on rebels in the country, but eventually backed down, conceding that the only helicopters en route were already Syrian, and had just been repaired in Russia.

Instead the arms shipments are centered not on the rebels fighting the regime now, but the NATO nations that could be invading Syria in the days to come. Isaykin said that the weapons, while not “cutting edge,” should deter those planning an attack on Syria.

This is no mere hypothetical, as both France and Britain have been pushing the UN to endorse a NATO invasion, and the US itself confirmed just today that they have “completed” their plans to attack Syria.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.