Level of Russia’s support is enough for this stage, says Syrian president

DAMASCUS, March 20./TASS/. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the level of military support for the country from Russia is "good and effective" and can be increased if necessary. "For this stage, the Russian support by air raids was enough for the Syrian Army to advance on different fronts, mainly in Aleppo and Palmyra as you know," the president told Russian journalists on Monday. "I'm sure that if the Syrian and the Russian officials and military officials feel that we need more support to defeat the terrorists, they're going to do it, but till this moment, the level of support is good and effective," he added. Russia launched the operation in Syria on September 30, 2015, at the request of the country’s President Bashar al-Assad. The operation involved Russia’s Aerospace Forces and Navy. Russian military helped the Syrian army to recapture Palmyra, which was liberated from Islamic State militants early in March. Special Operations forces and Russian Aerospace Force turned the tide leading to the defeat of Islamic State militants in Palmyra, Chief of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operations Department Colonel-General Sergei Rudskoi said early in March. "Russian aviation and Special Operations forces have made a considerable contribution to the defeat of ISIS (former name of Islamic State, the terrorist group banned in Russia - TASS) near Palmyra," Rudskoi said. Read more