The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) published the results of its monitoring of the activity of Russian forces, with the completion of their 90 months of involvement in the Syrian crisis.
The first month of the eighth year of the Russian intervention in Syria witnessed several developments within the de-escalation zone that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed upon.
On March 18, a senior Russian officer arrived in Manbij countryside, selected about 30 experienced officers from the regime's 7th Division, and took them with their heavy equipment to the Idlib frontlines.
He replaced them with members of the 1st Division after Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham escalated its attacks on regime positions in the "Putin-Erdogan" area.
In the country's northeast, the Russian forces and their Turkish counterparts conducted five joint patrols, three in the Ain al-Arab countryside within the Aleppo governorate and two in the Darbasiyah countryside al-Hasakah.
The Russian forces brought several military reinforcements to their positions in northeast Syria.
In March, SOHR activists reported a Russian military convoy carrying many prefabricated rooms from Aleppo towards areas east of the Euphrates.
On March 18, the Russian forces brought new military reinforcements to their base in al-Saidiya, in the Manbij countryside, east of Aleppo.
The Observatory indicated that the reinforcement comprised 40 anti-aircraft armored vehicles, weapons, and logistical supplies that would be distributed to Russian bases planned to be reinforced.
On March 27, the Russian forces brought new military reinforcements to their base at Sarin Airport in the Ain al-Arab countryside in the eastern countryside of Aleppo.
The Russian forces include an advanced Russian "Buk" air defense system, eight Tushka missiles, and radars. Tushka missiles are considered ballistic weapons that have great destructive capacity.
The SOHR documented "timid" aerial operations by Russian forces in the Syrian desert, despite the considerable escalation of bloody operations by ISIS, which killed 27 civilians and 44 members of regime forces and their proxy militias.
The Observatory documented the death of 21,123 persons between September 2015 and March 2023, including 8,697 civilians, 6,201 ISIS terrorists, and 6,225 fighters.
SOHR reported that Russia used Thermite-type explosives in their airstrikes, a substance composed of aluminum powder and iron oxide, which causes burns as it continues to ignite for about 180 seconds.
Russian military aircraft carried anti-individuals and anti-vehicles small-sized bombs, loaded with 50 to 110 small-sized bombs stuffed with Thermite. The range of these anti-individual and anti-vehicles bombs reaches 20 to 30 meters.
