Russia Sent 75 Trucks for Syria Arms Removal
Russia has air-lifted to Syria 75 vehicles and other equipment to help in the multinational operation to remove and destroy the country's chemical weapons, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday.
"Over three days -- between December 18 and 20 -- 75 units of automotive equipment including 50 Kamaz trucks and 25 armored Ural vehicles have been brought by aircraft to Latakia airport," Shoigu told Russian President Vladimir Putin via video linkup.
Quoted by the state RIA Novosti news agency, Shoigu said Russia had also sent other equipment but provided no details.
Russia's ambassador to Damascus said last week Moscow had sent 10 planes to the Syrian port city of Latakia to help with the operation. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Russian armored trucks would help take Syria's chemical weapons out of the country.
The U.S.-Russia deal for Syria to surrender its chemical arsenal averted US strikes on the regime of President Bashar Assad, which has been locked in a military conflict against the opposition since March 2011.
Source: Agence France Presse
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