Shoigu: The Assad regime controls 90% of Syrian territories because of Russian forces’ intervention

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed on Tuesday, 20 February 2024, that the Assad regime was able to control about 90% of Syrian territories because of the Russian forces.

Shoigu said in an interview with the Russian News Agency “TASS” that “The Russian pilots participating in the battles of Avdiivka gained their combat experience in Syria.”

Shoigu pointed out that “Western countries’ warfare methods and techniques are not unique or successful, and no one can name a single place where a successful operation was carried out, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, or Syria.”

According to the Russian minister, “the Assad regime was controlling about 17% of Syrian territories.”

Shoigu emphasized that “when the Russian forces began supporting the Assad regime, by decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin, they were able to control more than 90% of Syria.”

Since the Russian forces entered Syria on September 30, 2015, in order to back Assad regime, they have seized control of many major military bases in Syria, including the Hmeimim base, and their forces are present in various regions in Syria.

The Russian warplanes launched 5,286 airstrikes, since the start of the military intervention in Syria until last September, during which they used more than 320 types of weapons, and dropped more than 300 cluster bombs and more than 100 shells loaded with incendiary materials, according to data from the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).