Photo: RIA Novosti / Ulyana Solovyeva
The Russian military grouping in Syria has deployed heavy howitzer near an important frontline with Turkish forces in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
A video that surfaced online on November 30 shows a Russian battery of Msta-B towed 152 mm howitzers moving in the direction of the town of Tell Rifaat. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the battery was deployed at a newly-established position in the nearby village of Tell Jijan.
The Msta-B has a maximum firing range of 25 kilometers with base bleed rounds and up to 29 kilometers with rocket-assisted rounds. It can also fire the laser-guided 2K25 Krasnopol round, which has a range of 20-25 kilometers. The howitzer can fire up to six rounds per minute.
Tell Rifaat is jointly held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). The Russian military has been present around the town since the 2018 Turkish invasion of the nearby area of Afrin.
Turkey launched a large-scale operation against Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq, codenamed Claw-Sword, on November 20, in response to the November 13 deadly bombing in Istanbul.
So far, the operation has been limited to air and artillery strikes. However, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials have already warned of a near ground phase. Tell Rifaat was one of three towns which were recently named by President Erdogan as main targets of any new ground operation in northern Syria, with the other two being the nearby towns of Manbij and Kobane.
The Russian military move near Tell Rifaat came just a day after a Turkish official told Al Jazeera that Ankara completed all military and logistic preparations needed to launch a ground operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
The unnamed official said that Turkey had informed Russia of its rejection of the presence of the SAA in SDF territory in northern Syria.
The Russian military is not moving on Tell Rifaat frontline alone. Late on November 29, the SAA and Iranian-backed armed formations from the Shiite towns of Zahraa and Nubl deployed large reinforcement on the frontline, including several battle tanks and armored personnel carriers.
The deployment of Russian and Syrian reinforcements on Tell Rifaat frontline could force Turkey to reconsider its military plans, or at least delay them.
