Russia Preparing For War? Moscow’s Nuclear-Capable Missiles In Syria Captured In Satellite Images By Israeli Firm

According to high-resolution imagery released Thursday by an Israeli-owned firm, Russia has deployed nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in Syria. The confirmation comes soon after Moscow said it had begun reducing its military presence in the war-torn country.

The images, captured on Dec. 28 by the Israeli-built Eros B satellite, were posted Jan. 5 on the website of ImageSat International (iSi), a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries — the state-owned firm responsible for Israel’s spy satellites.

The firm said the imagery “is the first visual evidence of the system’s presence in Syria” as it shows two Iskander-launching vehicles, capable of deploying two of the 500 km range surface-to-surface missiles known to NATO as SS-26 each at Russia’s Hmeymim base in Latakia, Syria.

The Insight report on the firm’s website also compares an image taken in late November that shows six different “missile elements” under camouflage nets to the latest shot of the location, which shows the vehicles more clearly. The report notes: “Most probably, heavy rain and floods forced the re-deployment of those two elements to the location in which they were revealed by iSi analysts.”

Last week, Russia said it had begun reducing its forces in Syria under the terms of the ceasefire deal brokered between opposition groups and the Syrian government, but a Reuters report noted that Moscow has, in the past, failed to deliver on promises to pull back its military forces from Syria.

While Russia had announced a reduction of deployment in Syria in March last year, it continued to send in supplies by land and air and also sent in significant reinforcements in October, the report said.

Russian military website military-informant.com had published a very short video grab of the Iskander launch vehicles at the Hmeymim base in March last year, the first indicator of the presence of the vehicles in Syria.