Pentagon “Taken Aback” By Russian Strike on Syria

By Ed Payne and Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent
Russia has conducted its first airstrike against ISIS in Syria, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.
The airstrike targeted ISIS military equipment, communications centers, vehicles and ammunition, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, as part of pinpoint strikes against ISIS ground targets.
But a senior U.S. administration official told CNN’s Elise Labott the Russian airstrike near the city of Homs “has no strategic purpose” in terms of combating ISIS, which “shows they are not there to go after ISIL.” ISIL is another acronym for ISIS.
The official said the U.S. had no intention of preventing the strikes but that Russian planes didn’t seem to be flying in areas where the U.S. was operating. “They are not stupid,” the official said.
The State Department said U.S.-led coalition missions were continuing as normal despite an advance warning and request from Russia to stay out of Syrian airspace.
“A Russian official in Baghdad this morning informed U.S. Embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would begin flying anti-ISIL missions today over Syria,” said spokesman John Kirby. “He further requested that U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during these missions.”
A senior U.S. defense official told CNN the Pentagon was “taken aback” by Russia’s actions. “Our presidents just talked about setting up de-confliction talks and now they just go ahead and do this? They cannot be trusted.”
A second U.S. official said: “This is not how military relations are conducted, by banging on the door of our embassy and reading a note.”
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook had told reporters Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Ash Carter directed his staff to “open lines of communication with Russia on de-confliction.” The purpose of discussions would be “to ensure the safety of coalition air crews,” he said.
Russia: Coalition strikes on ISIS illegal
Earlier Wednesday, the upper house of the Russian parliament gave President Vladimir Putin approval to use the air force in Syria, state media reported.
“The Federation Council unanimously supported the President’s request — 162 votes in favor of granting permission,” Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergey Ivanov said, according to state-run ITAR-Tass news agency.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said that the Bashar al-Assad regime was the only legitimate force fighting ISIS, ITAR-Tass reported. It quoted her as saying that strikes by the U.S-led coalition violated international law as “interference into the territory of a sovereign state can only be carried out on authorization of U.N. Security Council or on request of official legitimate authorities.”
Matviyenko’s comments were echoed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, ITAR-Tass reported. “As a matter of fact Russia will be the sole country that will be carrying out that operation on the legitimate basis at the request of Syria’s legitimate authorities,” Peskov said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia conducted airstrikes after a request from al-Assad, the Syrian President.
Speaking at the start of a United Nations Security Council meeting to combat terrorism, Lavrov said: “On the 30th of September in response to a letter by the President of Syria, the President of Russia asked and received the consent of the Council of Federation for the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the Syrian Arab Republic.”
He continued: “We’re referring here exclusively to the operation of the Russian air force to carry out strikes against ISIL positions in Syria. We have informed the authorities in the United States and other members of the coalition created by the Americans of this and are ready to forge standing channels of communication to ensure maximally effective fight against the terrorist groups.”
‘No Russian boots on the ground’
Putin, speaking Wednesday at a government meeting, said his country would not become mired in the Syrian conflict.
“This military operation is limited in time. Russian air forces will help Assad’s army while it’s on the offensive mode,” Putin said. “There will be no Russian boots on the ground.”
Ahead of Wednesday’s strikes Russia’s air force carried out several days of familiarization flights, and the collection of potential targeting information by drones.
Four Russian Su-34 Fullback fighter jets are now at the Latakia air base in Syria, and more than 600 Russian troops are in place, a U.S. official with knowledge of the latest intelligence told CNN this week.
U.S. officials have previously said Russia’s movements suggest that its targets might be something other than ISIS.
“We see some very sophisticated air defenses going into those airfields. We see some very sophisticated air-to-air aircraft going into these airfields. I have not seen ISIL flying any airplanes that require SA-15s or SA-22s (Russian missiles). I have not seen ISIL flying any airplanes that require sophisticated air-to-air capabilities,” Gen. Phillip Breedlove, NATO’s supreme allied commander, said on Monday.
“I’m looking at the capabilities and the capacities that are being created and I determine from that what might be their intent. These very sophisticated air defense capabilities are not about ISIL. They’re about something else,” he concluded.
Defense officials have previously told CNN that the U.S. believes Moscow may fear that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may not be able to retain power in the war-torn country and wants to be in position to be able to support a proxy should the situation collapse.
Russia is also a close ally of Assad and may want to bolster him, while the U.S. has repeatedly called for him to go in order to resolve the five-year civil war.
The new developments continue a pattern of strategic buildup for Russia in and near Syria. In recent weeks, Russia has moved aircraft, tanks, artillery and armored vehicles into Syria, though its objective in the region remains murky.
The intelligence on Russia’s actions make clear that the U.S. is dedicating a substantial amount of satellite and eavesdropping capabilities to monitoring the developments around the clock.