Russia has placed advanced surface-to-surface ballistic missiles in Syria, according to an Israelli satellite imaging company, which published satellite photos of the missile-launchers on Friday.
ImageSat International said its EROS B satellite captured photos of two vehicle-mounted SS-26 “Iskander” missile launchers in northern Syria. The launchers are located in the Syrian army’s Latakia airbase. Two other launchers had also been spotted at the base, it said.
The Iskander is a mid-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, with a range of 400-500 kilometers.
According to the Ynet news website, Russia has previously considered providing Iskander missiles to the Syrian President Bashar Assad, but has refrained from doing so due to Israeli concerns. The weaponry seen in the newly released photos is apparently controlled by Russian forces operating in Syria, and has not been handed over to Assad’s forces.
"This revelation approves [sic] several unconfirmed reports of the Iskander presence in Syria and uncovers the system’s deployment site,” ImageSat said.
It added that according to its assessments, the launchers were “routinely deployed under camouflage nets at a nearby unpaved compound. Most probably, heavy rain and floods forced the redeployment of those two elements to the location in which they were revealed by iSi analysts.”
The Ynet report said Israel is worried that the weaponry could fall into the hands of Lebanese Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside Russian and Syrian regime forces, and is committed to destroying Israel.
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