Russian air defenses repelled an attack on the Hmeimim base in the Lattakia countryside using rocket launchers.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported today that the deputy director of the Russian coordination center in Hmeimim, Rear Admiral Vyacheslav Sitenik, confirmed in a statement that Russian air defense forces repelled an attack on the Hmeimim airbase using long-range rocket launchers. The rear admiral noted that monitoring tools identified that the shelling was carried out from areas where terrorist organizations are active in the de-escalation zone in Idlib. The Russian military official stated that the attack resulted in no casualties or material damage, affirming that Hmeimim base is operating normally.
It is noteworthy that this attack comes the day after a missile attack of unknown origin targeted the stolen oil refineries established by armed groups in the al-Bab area in northeastern Aleppo. A series of massive explosions followed by extensive fires erupted in the oil refinery area near the town of "Tarhin," which is inhabited by Turkish forces and their affiliated "Turkmen" factions.
The agency clarified that around 6:30 PM on Tuesday, an unknown entity targeted the area with several heavy rockets that fell successively in the oil refineries belonging to the armed "Turkmen" groups, which are involved in refining stolen Syrian oil, resulting in massive explosions that shook the entire region. The explosions caused a large number of casualties and injuries among the militants engaged in oil refining operations at the facilities, while firefighting vehicles began to extinguish the fires. The deceased and the injured were transported to several hospitals under tight security.
It is also worth mentioning that U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson John Kirby announced on Monday that U.S. forces in Syria are no longer responsible for protecting oil in the country, and their sole duty is to combat ISIS.
