Russia finally admits it HAS sent military experts to Syria after damning pictures showed 'soldiers on the ground in the war-torn country'

  • Russia has admitted military experts are in Syria following previous denials
  • Images showing Russians troops in Syria posted on social media accounts
  • Three Russian military transport planes have landed in Syria in recent days
  • U.S. put pressure on countries nearby to deny air space to Russian flights

Russia has admitted its military is present in Syria a day after leaked pictures appearing to show soldiers on the ground were published.

Russia's Foreign Ministry today said military experts are present in Syria - the first official confirmation that the military is in the country after weeks of increasing speculation that Moscow may be growing its presence there.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, said the experts were assisting with Russian arms deliveries to Syria which Moscow says are aimed at combating terrorism. 

A Syrian official added: 'Russian experts are always present but in the last year they have been present to a greater degree. All aspects of the relationship are currently being developed, including the military one.'

The announcement comes despite previous denials from Russian president Vladimir Putin that he had deployed increasing numbers of troops to help prop up the regime of Bashar Al-Assad.

Meanwhile, three Lebanese sources familiar with the political and military situation in Syria said Russian forces have begun participating in military operations in the country in support of government troops.

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Russian troops pose in front of a picture of Putin and Assad in Syria
A soldier is pictured next to a 4x4 vehicle adorned with the Syrian flag in Tartus posted online by Pavel Nasilnov on August 27

Russian troops pose in front of a picture of Putin and Assad in Syria (left) and a soldier is pictured next to a 4x4 vehicle adorned with the Syrian flag in Tartus (right), posted online by Pavel Nasilnov on August 27

Social media: This photograph, taken in Homs Governorate, Syria, was posted online by Sergei Tsyplakov

Social media: This photograph, taken in Homs Governorate, Syria, was posted online by Sergei Tsyplakov

This picture taken in Tartus, Syria, where a small Russian naval facility is based, was posted on social media by Eduard Lasenko

This picture taken in Tartus, Syria, where a small Russian naval facility is based, was posted on social media by Eduard Lasenko

A series of photographs appearing to show Russian troops on the ground were published by MailOnline yesterday.

They will have infuriated western leaders who have called for the removal of Assad during the four-year civil war that has devastated the country, forced four million people to flee their homes and led to the terrifying rise of ISIS. 

One picture posted this week by 19-year-old Ivan Strebkov - who serves in the Alexander Nevsky Marine Brigade, based in Baltiysk on Russia's Baltic coast - shows four heavily armed troops at Russia's small but longstanding Tartus naval facility in Syria. 

However, the Russian forces are also seen at other locations in the war-torn country, and the pictures have been taken since April, suggesting a gradual build up.

Another image shows nine Russian soldiers around a fire in a blitzed building in Homs, some 60 miles east of the Tartus naval port.

A picture posted by Alexei Khabarov shows a Russian soldier in Arab headgear at Hama, 90 miles from Tartus.

An image posted by Sergei Alexandrov taken on July 27 appears to show a Russian soldier in a trench in Halab - or Aleppo - in war-ravaged northern Syria, 150 miles from Tartus.

Another posted by Sergei Boroda last month shows a bearded fighter in a military encampment in al-Soda - also known as al-Sawda - around ten miles northeast of Tartus.

A photograph posted by Nikoli Kazakov shows soldiers apparently arriving in Syria in April, long before recent concern that led US Secretary of State John Kerry to challenge his U.S. opposite number Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov over the Russian troops in Syria.

An undated image highlights two Russian soldiers posing beside a poster of presidents Assad and Putin.

And a pregnant Russian woman appeared to have let the cat out of the bag when she complained on social media that her husband, a marine in Putin's armed forces, has been deployed to Syria. 

Separately, a video from Syria supposedly filmed on August 23 during the battle of the port of Latakia shows an ultramodern Russian-made infantry combat vehicle 82A with an 2A72 30mm cannon.

There are claims Russian speech is heard in the video. The vehicle is painted in colours and there is an identification number in Russian style.

Claims made yesterday by independent radio station Echo Moscow say the following shouts were heard in Russian: 'Let's do! Throw it! Do it again! Let's do it again!' 

Today, it was claimed that Russian forces have begun participating in military operations in Syria in support of government troops.

The Lebanese sources, speaking to Reuters on condition they not be identified, gave the most forthright account yet from the region of what U.S. officials say appears to be a new military buildup by Moscow, one of President Bashar al-Assad's main allies, though one of the sources said the numbers of Russians involved so far were small.

Two U.S. officials said Russia has sent two tank landing ships and additional aircraft to Syria in the past day or so and has deployed a small number of naval infantry forces.

The U.S. officials, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the intent of Russia's military moves in Syria remained unclear. One of the officials said initial indications suggested the focus was on preparing an airfield near the port city of Latakia, an Assad stronghold.

Aerial imagery shows Russia was focusing on Bassel al-Assad International Airport, south of Latakia on Syria's Mediterranean coast, and on the naval facility in Tartus.

The moves come at a time when forces of Assad's government have faced major setbacks on the battlefield in a four-year-old multi-sided civil war that has killed 250,000 people and driven half of Syria's 23 million people from their homes.

Syrian troops pulled out of a major air base on Wednesday, and a monitoring group said this meant government soldiers were no longer present at all in Idlib province, most of which slipped from government control earlier this year. 

But Russia has declined to comment on the exact scale and scope of its military presence in Syria. Damascus denied Russians were involved in combat, but a Syrian official said the presence of experts had increased in the past year.

Yesterday U.S. officials said at least three Russian military transport planes have landed in Syria in recent days.

The aircraft landed at the airport in Latakia on Syria's Mediterranean coast over the past several days, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity.

This picture of a soldier posing with a gun in front of a picture of Assad was posted online by eena-street, Tartus_Vkontakte_east2west_all queries to Will Stewart 0079859989400_not for syndication.jpg

This image of a soldier posing in front of a picture of Assad in Tartus was posted online by Nikita Saveliev

A soldier pictured in Latakia, posted online by Alexei Mikhailov
Soldier in Aleppo uploaded by Sergei Alexandrov on July 27

A soldier pictured in Latakia, posted online by Alexei Mikhailov (left) and another in Aleppo uploaded by Sergei Alexandrov on July 27 (right)

Two of the aircraft were giant Antonov-124 Condor planes and a third was a passenger flight, one of the officials said.

The Russians have installed modular housing units - enough for 'hundreds' of people - at the airport, as well as portable air traffic control equipment, the official noted.

'All of this seems to be suggesting that Russia is planning to do some sort of forward air-operating hub out of this airfield,' the official said. 

France's foreign minister said today reports that Russia had sent troops to bolster Assad made finding a political solution in Syria more complicated. 

"The U.N. General Assembly, at the end of September, could be the place (to discuss a political transition), but it is made more complicated by the fact that Russia may have sent new troops there," Laurent Fabius said in a speech to university students in Paris.

"France will double its diplomatic efforts to put an end to the Syrian drama, one of the greatest tragedies of the start of this century." 

While Russia has long supplied weaponry to Damascus, a Cold War ally, the naval resupply facility of Tartus is not designated a military base and Moscow has not previously had a significant military presence in Syria.

Despite this, there are claims of a rising number of visits to Tartus from the Nikolai Filchenkov - a large assault landing ship - and other Russian naval vessels.

The vessel was pictured on September 2 and is believed to be carrying equipment from the 810th non-divisional marine brigade, based in Sevastopol in Crimea. One marine from the 810th posted his social media status as: 'Gone to Syria'. 

Troops give a thumbs up and hold a Syrian flag in this picture taken in Tartus and posted online by Evgeny Dolgarev on May 9

Troops give a thumbs up and hold a Syrian flag in this picture taken in Tartus and posted online by Evgeny Dolgarev on May 9

Troops pictured at Tartus naval facility, posted online by Iliya Kozlov on September 2
Troops in Tartus uploaded by Dmitry Nesterenko

Troops pictured at Tartus naval facility (left), posted online by Iliya Kozlov on September 2, and another in Tartus uploaded by Dmitry Nesterenko (right) on June 25

The large assault landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov in Tartus port is loaded with Russian military hardware

The large assault landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov in Tartus port is loaded with Russian military hardware

Officials in the U.S, which is fighting an air war against ISIS in Syria and also opposes Assad's government, have said in recent days that they suspect Russia is reinforcing aid to Assad.

Washington has put pressure on countries nearby to deny their air space to Russian flights, a move Moscow denounced on Wednesday as 'international boorishness'. 

Russia says the flights brings humanitarian aid but U.S. officials say they may be bringing military supplies.

To avoid flying over Turkey, one of Assad's main enemies, Russia has sought to fly planes over Balkan states, but Washington has urged them to deny Moscow permission.

Yesterday, Bulgaria refused a Russian request to use its airspace for flights due to doubts about the cargo on board. It said on Wednesday it would allow Russian supply flights to Syria to use its airspace only if Moscow agreed to checks of their cargo at a Bulgarian airport.

Turkey has not officially confirmed a ban on Russian flights to Syria but says it considers any requests to fly over its air space to Syria on a case-by-case basis. 

Greece granted Russia the right to use its airspace for humanitarian flights to Syria on August 31, TASS news agency quoted a Russian embassy official in Athens as saying on Wednesday.

The Russian agency added that the request covered the period from September 1 to September 24.

Separately, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted a Russian embassy official in Tehran as saying Iran had approved all of Moscow's requests on flights delivering humanitarian aid to Syria. 

This video from Syria supposedly filmed on August 23 during the battle of the port of Latakia shows an ultramodern Russian-made infantry combat vehicle

This video from Syria supposedly filmed on August 23 during the battle of the port of Latakia shows an ultramodern Russian-made infantry combat vehicle

Evgeny Fedotov posted this picture on May 24, taken in the central park in Tartus Syria, where the Russians have naval facilities

Evgeny Fedotov posted this picture on May 24, taken in the central park in Tartus Syria, where the Russians have naval facilities

A soldier stands on a ship with the Syrian flag in this photograph posed online by Dmitry Glezdnev on July 8

A soldier stands on a ship holding the Syrian flag in this photograph posed online by Dmitry Glezdnev on July 8