Russia
Official: ‘OPCW Found No Chemical Weapons’ at Syrian Facilities
Barzeh, Han Shinshar
25 April, 2018
Last
week, the fact-finding mission of the Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited a site in the Damascus
suburb of Douma to collect samples in connection with the alleged
April 7 chemical attack.
Chief
of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General
Staff Col. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy has announced that the Organisation
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had
confirmed that there were no chemical weapons found at the
Barzeh research center in Damascus despite the US
officials' claims.
The
official further noted that thousands of people could have died
if there was any chemical weapon on the sites that were attacked
by the US-led coalition.
"Immediately
after the attacks, many people who worked at these
destroyed facilities and just bystanders without any protective
equipment visited them. None of them got poisoned with toxic
agents," Rudskoy said.
He
said the logic of strikes on alleged facilities with toxic
agents in Syria was unclear, because if toxic agents had
theoretically been stored there, tens of thousands of people
would have died after the cruise missile strikes.
On
US Airstrikes in Syria
Intelligence
data shows that Osa, Kvadrat, Buk, Strela-10, Pantsir and S-125 air
defense systems destroyed 46 cruise missiles during the recent
US-led strikes on Syria, Rudskoy said, adding that only 13 of 76
reported Western airstrikes hit targets near the Barzah research
center in Syria.
"Obtained
intelligence data, objective control from air defense systems,
work on the ground and the questioning of witnesses show
that Pantsir, Osa, Strela-10, Buk, Kvadrat and S-125… destroyed 46
cruise missiles [in Syria]," Rudskoy said.
According
to Rudskoy, most of the precision weapons were destroyed
by the Soviet-era air defense systems developed 40 years ago,
with S-125, Osa and Kvadrat among them.
According
to the military official, Russian specialists are examining
missiles of the US-led coalition, including Tomahawk, which were
captured in Syria to improve Russian weapons.
"Two
[missiles] including Tomahawk cruise missile and a high-precision
aviation missile were delivered to Moscow… They are now being
examined by our experts. The results of this work will be
used to improve Russian weapons," he told a briefing.
At
the same time, air defense expert of the Russian Defense
Ministry Sergei Beznogih said that the Russian General Staff showed
remains of cruise missiles downed by Syrian air defense
systems to journalists.
"Elements
of the sea-based US-made Tomahawk [missiles] and air-based
UK-made and French-made SCALP and Storm Shadow [missiles] were
displayed," Beznogih said.
Meanwhile,
Col. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy noted that only seven western missiles
struck the Syrian Han Shinshar facility, which allegedly housed
chemical weapons, not 22 as the Pentagon claims.
The
senior official stressed that chemical weapons were never developed
or stored in Han Shinshar, located in the province of Homs,
adding that the storage was struck twice, not seven times, as the
US side claims.
"According
to the statements of the Pentagon’s representatives, 22
missiles hit the above-ground facilities. We registered no more
than seven hits, which is shown in the space image,"
he told a briefing.
Speaking
further, Rudskoy noted that expensive "smart" US
missiles only hit outbuildings in Syria which had nothing to do
with the army.
"The
expensive and so-called ‘smart’ missiles inflicted the
greatest damage on outbuildings which had nothing to do
with military activity," he told a briefing.
At
the same time, according to the senior military official, Russia
will supply new air defense systems to Syria in the
near future.
"Russian
specialists will continue training Syrian military personnel, and
will assist in mastering new air defense systems, which will be
supplied in the near future," Rudskoy said.
Earlier,
reports have emerged about an alleged chemical weapons attack
in Syria, published by an online Syrian opposition news
portals on April 7, claiming that a chemical attack took place
in Syria in the city of Douma near Damascus.
Reacting
to the reports, the United States and the European Union said
the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad was behind the
attack.
Moscow
has called the news reports about the attack "hoaxes"
and warned against military attacks against Syrian areas
where Russian troops are deployed.
The
Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria representatives
inspected the location of the alleged attack and questioned
local doctors, who said that they had not received individuals
with symptoms of any chemical poisoning.
However,
despite the lack of evidence, the US, alongside France
and the UK, launched a massive missile attack against Syria
on April 14 in response to the
alleged chemical attack in the city of Douma.
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