Special to WorldTribune.com

LONDON — Russia, after numerous pledges, has intensified weapons deliveries to Syria.

Diplomatic sources said NATO has determined that the Kremlin approved an airlift of combat platforms and munitions to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The sources said the flow of arms was detected in late 2013 and included unmanned aerial vehicles.

“The weapons are coming in by air to avoid problems of ship refueling,” a source said. “The weapons flights also stay away from such NATO member states as Turkey, which in the past forced down Russian aircraft.”

The sources said the weapons airlift was meant to bolster Syria’s conventional and counter-insurgency capability as the Sunni revolt completes its third year. They said Russia has been training the Syrian military on the use of tactical UAVs in operations against Sunni rebels around Aleppo.

On Jan. 17, the Reuters news agency said Russia as well as such allies as Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine were also supplying the Assad regime with armored vehicles and guided air munitions.

The London-based agency quoted a “Middle East security source” as citing the arrival in Damascus of dozens of Russian Air Force An-124 transports laden with radars, electronic warfare systems, spare parts of helicopters and air munitions.

“Russian advisers and intelligence experts have been running observation
UAVs around the clock to help Syrian forces track rebel positions, analyze
their capabilities, and carry out precision artillery and air force strikes
against them,” the unidentified source said.

A Western diplomat confirmed the report of a Russian airlift to Assad.
The diplomat, who did not want to be named, said the Kremlin wanted to
ensure that Assad could end or at least cripple the Sunni revolt over the
next few months amid peace talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The Russian aim is to supply Syria with enough weapons and munitions so
that it can fight the rebels with minimum outside support, if necessary,”
the diplomat said. “With the exception of the UAVs, the Russian deliveries
don’t introduce anything major to the region.”

  Bashar Assad, drone training, NATO, NATO sources: Russia still shipping advanced weapon systems to Assad regime, Russian airlifts