Overnight on January 6, opponents in Syria launched a massive attack against Russian military facilities, including the Tartus Naval base and Hmeimin airbase, with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles announces Russian Defense Ministry.

The Russian military has taken control of six drones that were sent by militants, another seven were shot down by the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun system, the Russian Defense Ministry reported, emphasized that Russian troops were not injured during the attack attempts and that the bases continue to fulfill their functions in a normal manner, where no material damage has occurred in the bases.

A technical analysis of the captured drones revealed that the attackers are able to carry out attacks from a range of about 100 kilometers, the statement added. The Defense Ministry pointed out that the attempted attack marks the first time the attackers have used modern guidance technologies on satellite GPS.

The Russian security services are carrying out a probe to find out who supplied the drones to attackers.

The engineers are also inspecting the components of the explosive devices that were mounted on the drones.

It is not yet known who is behind the attack attempts.

The Russian Kommersant newspaper reported on January 4 that 2 Russia soldiers had killed, more than 10 soldiers were wounded and more than 7 warplanes have become unusable in a mortar attack on December 31, 2017, by "opponent groups" in the Hmeimin base in Syria's Lazkiye province. (ILKHA)