MOSCOW. Oct 28 (Interfax) - Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft of the Military Transport Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces have airlifted to the Hmeimim airbase in Syria dozens of armored vehicles, on which Russian military police officers will pursue special tasks in certain areas of the Syrian-Turkish border, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
"Tigr and Taifun-U armored vehicles were delivered to Syria from the airfields in the Rostov Region and the Krasnodar Territory," according to the statement received by Interfax.
These units of military hardware will shortly carry out a march to northern Syria, where Russian military police units will aid the withdrawal of Kurdish units and their weaponry 30 km from the Syrian-Turkish border. Furthermore, they will begin patrolling the designated areas jointly with Turkish units in line with the provisions of the Russian-Turkish Memorandum, which was signed in Sochi on October 22.
"Armored vehicles are designed to transport the personnel and various kinds of mission equipment or weapon systems, and are equipped with the onboard information and control system based on the multiplex fixed-line communication system, as well as with air conditioners that is quite important in a hot climate," the statement reads.
Military police officers have already begun carrying out tasks to help ensure the security of local residents and maintain law and order, and pursue patrol missions. The best-trained servicemen, who have been trained at the Military Police Center, which is situated in Vladikavkaz, and have the experience of such operations, were sent to Syria.