Film Review: Save People's Commissar Kuznetsov or something from alternative history

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Text taken from  blog post by Vladimir Shigin

by Vladimir Shigin

These days, a new military-heroic series “Admiral Kuznetsov” produced by Mostelefilm with the support of the Internet Development Institute (directed by Sergei Vinogradov) began to appear on the Internet.

The first thing that caught your eye when you got acquainted with the data on the film was the incredible number of screenwriters, eight people: Valentin Spiridonov, Liliya Vysokovskaya, Alexander Vysokovsky, Oleg Kirillov, Mikhail Kolodinsky, Igor Ter-Karapetov, Igor Torotko, Alexey Boletus! Moreover, none of them had ever had anything to do with the navy and therefore hardly fully understood what they wrote about...

To be honest, knowing the level of historical awareness and responsibility of modern screenwriters and directors, I did not expect anything good from the film in advance. But reality exceeded all expectations.

Once upon a time, writer Karem Rush wrote an essay “Bring Back Kuznetsov!”, dedicated to the history of returning the good name of the former People's Commissar of the Navy and Minister of the Navy of the USSR. Good name N.G. After much ups and downs, Kuznetsov was finally returned in the late 1980s. Alas, today after watching the first episode of the film “Admiral Kuznetsov” I got the impression that it was time to save the legendary People’s Commissar. This time from our zealous and clueless filmmakers...

To get an idea of ​​the series as a whole, let’s first take a detailed look at at least the first episode (there are eight in total!). I think that this is quite enough to understand the general level of the film. So, the first episode of the film begins with a more than strange passage. One of the commanders of the Black Sea Fleet reports to another that German ships unexpectedly began to leave Sevastopol. At the same time, the last German ship, according to the speaker’s calculations, will leave Sevastopol Bay on June 21, 1941. This means that on June 22 the war with Germany will begin. Knowing the further course of events, you cannot argue with the logic of the observant Black Sea commander. The only question is, where did the German merchant ships come from in Sevastopol? How did they even get into the closed main naval base of the Black Sea Fleet? What are they supposed to do there?

If German ships were in our Black Sea ports, then first of all in Odessa, where there really was a large commercial port. But in Sevastopol there was no trace of a trading port! Moreover, in reality, the concern of the People's Commissariat of the Navy was caused not by German ships leaving Sevastopol (or even Odessa), but by ships hastily leaving our Baltic ports. This is exactly what the reports of the commander of the Baltic Fleet V.F. say. Tributsa. Why the scriptwriters needed to turn everything inside out and come up with outright nonsense about Sevastopol is completely unclear.

Further, the People's Commissar of the Navy Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov, being in his office, really wants to meet with I.V. Stalin and report to him about the flight of German ships from Sevastopol. But Stalin does not want to meet with him. I guess because Stalin knew: there were never any German ships in the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, and it only seemed like it to the People’s Commissar of the Navy and his subordinates.

At the same time, Kuznetsov sends his deputy admiral I.S. to the Black Sea Fleet. Isakov so that he could check the combat readiness of the fleet. Meanwhile, at the Reich Chancellery, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder reports to Adolf Hitler that he is ready to attack the Soviet fleet. At the same time, he boasts that his agents daily send fresh photos of the deployment of Soviet warships. To confirm his words, he slips Hitler a photograph of Sevastopol Bay. Hitler looks at her with wide-eyed eyes. And we understand it! Before us is a photograph of Sevastopol Bay... 1916. It clearly shows the dreadnought “Empress Maria”, the battleships “Zlatoust” and “Eustathius”, the cruisers “Memory of Mercury” and “Cahul”... And the cunning Raeder continues to stun the poor Fuhrer. “Here’s a fresh photo of Tallinn!” - he says and slips in another photo from 30 years ago. Hitler's eyes widen even more. 

Finally, Raeder pulls out his trump card. “And this is Leningrad!” - he solemnly exclaims and thrusts a photograph of Liepaja harbor to the stunned Hitler... at the end of the 80s! Let's stop the frame and take a closer look at this photo. She's worth it! In the photograph near the piers one can clearly distinguish... the 16th division of Soviet missile submarines in full force. Hitler and the audience can clearly see the Project 629A rocket carriers with ballistic nuclear missiles. Nearby is a brigade of Project 56 missile destroyers. And in the foreground are the ships of the water area protection brigade. Moreover, the small anti-submarine ships of Project 133, just built at the shipyards of the German Democratic Republic, are most clearly visible. What a surprise for the possessed Fuhrer! Poor Hitler is in complete prostration...

It is a pity that Raeder did not explain to the Fuhrer that each of the Soviet Project 629A missile submarines carried three ballistic missiles with a thermonuclear warhead with a megaton yield. If anything, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a charge of 10 kilotons, while a megaton has a charge of 1000 kilotons. By the way, in the 16th division there were 14 such missile carriers. This would be enough to wipe out not only Germany, but also all of its allied Europe within a few hours. To be honest, after seeing this photograph, the Fuhrer should have immediately torn the hell out of his Barbarossa plan and run to make peace with Stalin. Because attacking a nuclear power would be madness even for a possessed person!

Probably, in reality, after Hitler viewed this photograph, the film could have ended. In order to at least somehow explain the further behavior of the Germans, we will assume that this photograph was delivered to Raeder by a spy, so neither he nor the Fuhrer, looking at it, really understood anything. I simply have no other explanation for what is happening on the screen! At the same time, the Grand Admiral is trying to convince the Fuhrer that he has everything under control and will drown the Russians. Well, aren't you an idiot?

Still not recovering from viewing the photographs, Hitler carefully asks: “Are you sure about this?” To which Raeder begins to tell the Fuhrer in detail about the recent repressions in the USSR Navy. Hitler is clearly surprised. It turns out that he is hearing about this for the first time! "I'm giving you a chance!" - says the Fuhrer, but we no longer hear confidence in his words.

So, Hitler orders the Grand Admiral to destroy the Soviet fleet. But Hitler himself had just personally signed the “Barbarossa” strategic directive, according to which at the first stage of the war no active actions by the Kriegsmarine against the Soviet Navy were simply envisaged! All attacks on Soviet naval bases are planned to be carried out by Hermann Goering's aircraft and attacks from the land front, and the necessary force levels have already been determined for this. The filmmakers, apparently, simply were not aware that at that time the entire German Navy was concentrated against England, where it was fighting the most intense battle for the Atlantic. Therefore, in the bases of the North Sea and France there were not only almost all submarines, but all cruisers and battleships. Only auxiliary forces remained in the Baltic to contain our Baltic Fleet. In the North and on the Black Sea, the Germans had practically nothing at all.

Meanwhile, People's Commissar Kuznetsov returns to his dacha after another day of work. The People's Commissar's dacha is modest, but stylish, as it is decorated with... vinyl siding.

June 14, 1941. Kuznetsov was finally summoned to a meeting with Stalin. Stalin is very angry and says that there is no need to panic, since there will definitely be no war this year. Everyone silently nods that they understand. And then K.E. intervenes. Voroshilov, who begins to accuse Kuznetsov of non-partisanship. Stalin is angry with the People's Commissar of the Navy and orders him to urgently return the Black Sea Fleet to Sevastopol from the exercises.

In reality, by this time the exercises of the Black Sea Fleet were completed, and the ships were already returning to their bases. As for Admiral Isakov, he had actually been on the Black Sea for a long time and personally supervised these exercises. But the filmmakers, apparently, did not have time to read about this. Well, it happens!

Next we are shown the teachings themselves. They are headed by the fleet commander, Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky, located with headquarters on the cruiser "Red Caucasus".

The frankly shabby appearance of the Red Navy men is surprising. They look like tramps. For some reason, no one has uniform collars or combat numbers on their uniforms. And the robes themselves are so dirty that it’s disgusting to look at them. Never, I repeat, never have sailors of the Soviet Navy worn such dirty work clothes! At the same time, the fleet commander and his retinue look quite calmly at the running dirty sailors from the wing of the navigation bridge.

Next, a certain captain-lieutenant reports to a certain captain of the 2nd rank that an order has been received to stop the exercises. And for some reason it doesn’t show the radiogram itself! Like, take my word for it! At the same time, the fleet commander himself is on the ship! Why is the radiogram not reported to him? What can I say, there is a clear disorder with the organization of service in the Black Sea Fleet.

Meanwhile, a German spy photographer openly takes photographs of warships entering the Sevastopol Bay in broad daylight right in front of the careless naval counterintelligence. At the same time, he not only takes photographs, but, apparently, transmits these photos online directly to the headquarters of Grand Admiral Raeder, no less than via WhatsApp.

Kriegsmarine headquarters again. There, Raeder, receiving real-time photographs from his spy, wants to arrange a second Tsushima for our fleet. To do this, he needs very little: to know the location of our ships in the bay with an accuracy of one cable length. And we understand that he plans to bomb our ships. But with what? After all, Raeder does not have a single aircraft under his command! All German aviation is in the hands of Air Force Commander Reichsführer Goering! Did no one really explain to the filmmakers that throughout the Second World War, the Germans did not have such a type of force as naval aviation (unlike us!). Therefore, if anyone could plan to bomb our fleet, it would be Goering, not Raeder.

Meanwhile, German pilots continue to brazenly fly over the Sevastopol Bay. And again a wonderful miracle! Luckily for us, the entrance to Sevastopol Bay is blocked by two artificial breakwaters built in 1986!

Finally, our sailors began to aim the ship's anti-aircraft guns at the potential enemy. We see that one of the artillery crews is commanded by a sailor with a combat number (at least one!). But, judging by the number, for some reason the anti-aircraft fire is being directed by a representative of the electromechanical warhead! No, there is still no order in the Black Sea Fleet!

At this time, People's Commissar Kuznetsov is very worried that he could not adequately answer Stalin, and breaks his pencils out of excitement. At the same time, as a civilian, the People's Commissar of the Navy for some reason believes that the ships entrusted to him are based not in naval bases, but in certain ports...

June 19, 1941. The People's Commissar of the Navy convenes a meeting of the Navy General Staff to discuss a very important issue. In fact, in the Navy, as in other branches of the armed forces, there are military councils to resolve the most important issues, but the filmmakers have not heard of them. The assembled Main Headquarters of the Navy also looks somewhat strange. Only the head of the operational department, deputy chief of the Main Naval Staff of the Navy, Rear Admiral V.A., came to Kuznetsov. Alafuzov, with him a certain rear admiral and two captains of the 1st rank. For some reason, one of them arrived with a pistol on his side.

A legitimate question arises: where are the officials who are really capable of making serious decisions and bearing responsibility for them: the head of the Main Political Directorate of the Navy, Army Commissar of the 2nd Rank I.V. Rogov (with whom Kuznetsov is generally obliged to jointly resolve all important issues), First Deputy People's Commissar Admiral L.M. Haller, Deputy People's Commissar for Combat Training, Vice Admiral G.I. Levchenko, Commander of the Navy Air Force, Lieutenant General S.F. Zhavoronkov, heads of departments of the General Staff?

For some reason, Kuznetsov did not invite any of them, but is conferring in a very narrow circle. But a very serious issue is being discussed - the transfer of the Navy to combat readiness No. 2, and the transfer is contrary to the opinion of Stalin...

Kuznetsov orders that the ships change their location all the time, and that German planes are turned on the opposite course and forced to land; those who do not obey are shot down.

Later in the conversation, Kuznetsov again shows naval dullness, calling the noble naval report an ordinary army report. The thought involuntarily creeps in, maybe, in fact, he was appointed People’s Commissar too early?

Then the two admirals and two captains of the 1st rank present by silently standing up demonstrate that they support the daring directive of their boss to bring the Navy to combat readiness No. 2. And we understand that they are very brave people.

Meanwhile, at his headquarters, Karl Dönitz is still admiring the spy photographs. Moreover, if his officers are dressed in the Kriegsmarine uniform of the authorized black color, then the Grand Admiral himself is wearing some kind of green army uniform with admiral's stripes. Why the director needed this stupid kitsch is unclear!

Change of frame. The restless wife of Admiral Isakov comes to Kuznetsov’s wife and begins to scare her that the obstinate husband might be shot. Here it turns out that for some reason Kuznetsov’s second wife’s name is Ira, although in real life her name was Vera Nikolaevna.

And the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, still does not want to go to his regular command post in order to lead the fleet from there at such a critical moment. He continues to walk along the navigation bridge of the “Red Caucasus” and look through binoculars at German reconnaissance aircraft flying over the bay. Finally, having received permission from the People's Commissar to fire, our anti-aircraft gunners open fire. One German plane immediately explodes (which, unfortunately, is not true), the rest fly away.

Oktyabrsky watches the last mythical German steamer leaving the Sevastopol Bay. And he thinks meaningfully...

And the Germans are already sending a note of protest to Stalin. He calls Kuznetsov. Stalin interrogates Kuznetsov, why is he being willful and violating his order not to open fire? Kuznetsov informs Stalin that the war, according to his calculations, will begin on June 22 (he already knows this for certain!) and he just wants to save the people and the fleet. Stalin jokes gloomily: “And on June 23, I’m waiting for you at my Near Dacha. Let's sit, talk, drink good wine. I’ll ask Lavrenty Pavlovich to send a car for you!” Kuznetsov turns pale, but holds the blow.

21st of June. People's Commissariat of the Navy. Kuznetsov decides to go to the end and orders Admiral Isakov, who has returned from Sevastopol: “We can’t wait any longer! Prepare a code about transferring the Navy to combat readiness No. 1.” Isakov rolls his eyes: “We will all be shot!” Brave Kuznetsov grins: “Perhaps! But if war happens, thousands will die!”

After this, the People's Commissar calls the fleet commanders by phone. The first to respond was the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Vice Admiral V.F. Tributs. Kuznetsov orders him to transfer the fleet to combat readiness No. 1 and beat the Germans to defeat! Tributz tugs at his jacket in excitement. A nice detail: next to the table there is a modern cheap Chinese souvenir - a model of a sailing ship...

And then Kuznetsov was informed that an order had come from the General Staff to put the Navy on combat readiness No. 1. Kuznetsov and Isakov look at each other with relief. Now their lives are no longer in danger.

Next in front of us is the cockpit of an unknown ship of the Baltic Fleet. Everyone sleeps there, but for some reason they don’t sleep properly, undressed under the blankets, but lie on top of the blankets right in their dirty robes. A close-up shows a torn sock, with a dirty toe visible through the hole. What the director wanted to say by this is unclear. The alarm sounds...

In the frame is the Black Sea battleship Paris Commune. For some reason, the battleship is not at anchor or on a barrel, but simply drifting somewhere on the open sea. Apparently, the computer scientists were not explained that a mooring barrel and a coastal contour should be added to the battleship. Happens!

For some reason, on the Paris Commune, unlike the Baltic ship, it is lunch time (although both fleets are in the same time zone). This lunch is going very strangely. The sailors each stand in line with their own bowl in the galley, and the cook, through the open window, pours porridge into each person’s bowl in turn. I explain that the crew with their bowls never stood in a crowd at the galley, but there were specially allocated, according to the duty schedule, sailors with tanks (they were called “tank tanks”) to receive the first and second courses for ten people at once. The rest were waiting for the tank crews in their cubicles. What you showed, sorry, is complete nonsense!

An alarm sounds on the Black Sea battleship, and everyone runs with their bowls to the combat posts. The preparation of the ship for battle and voyage begins.

Next we see the turret compartment of the universal caliber guns of the “Paris Commune”. There is complete horror there. Everything is covered with a thick layer of rust, even the shell, which the dirty sailors hardly push into the breech, is covered with rust. How one can go to war with such an attitude towards the entrusted military equipment and weapons is incomprehensible to the mind!

Of course, we understand that these scenes were filmed on the old museum cruiser "Mikhail Kutuzov", where the artillery equipment is now in a very disrepair. This could not have happened on real ships of the Black Sea Fleet in 1941. But the impression is still disgusting. Why couldn’t the film director take half a liter of ball paint and at least cover up the rusty squalor a little to improve the picture? Were you not smart enough or did you save your budget?

Next we see Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky finally reaching his office. He stands and casually looks out the window. Why, at a time when the fleet was transferred to full combat readiness, its commander did not arrive at his command post, where all fleet management is concentrated (operational duty officers, warning system, operational communications, etc.), but remained in the office from where he commanded? Is it simply impossible to fight? Unclear! Further - more: hearing a rumble in the air, Oktyabrsky begins to look with interest at the approaching German planes... But in fact, it’s interesting, why are they flying towards us?

An incomprehensible senior lieutenant, either an adjutant or an ensign, is hovering next to the fleet commander. Finally, the city is darkened, and the German pilots lose their bearings. But suddenly the entrance beacon flashes. It turns out that the lighthouse is the father of this very senior lieutenant. Therefore, he rushes to the lighthouse, where he enters into battle and kills the German saboteur, who had previously managed to kill his lighthouse father. The efficient senior lieutenant extinguishes the beacon. The Germans lose their bearings and begin dropping bombs anywhere on sleeping Sevastopol. Explosions roar. Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky is still looking out the window. Our anti-aircraft guns are firing. Burning German planes are falling...

I have a question for the filmmakers, where did they read about the bombing of Sevastopol on June 22, 1941? If they show me the source, I will apologize to them. But, alas, they won’t show it, because no one purposefully bombed Sevastopol on June 22. The Germans had a much more serious task that day - they were trying to mine the exit from Sevastopol Bay in order to block the Black Sea Fleet there. Therefore, they dropped by parachute at the entrance and in the bay itself not bombs at all, but electromagnetic mines. Several of these mines accidentally fell on the shore, where they exploded, but these were not the bombs that for some reason were shown to us in close-up in the movies. This fact has been known to everyone for a long time, why is it so stupid to try to deceive the viewer? Why not tell the truth that Grand Admiral Raeder really wanted to bottle up the Black Sea Fleet, which would show us the Germans as truly serious opponents, and not idiots?..

Meanwhile, the movie Grand Admiral Raeder is kayaking in his country pond! Here, you understand, a world war on two fronts begins, and he doesn’t give a damn. Perhaps Raeder was actually a desperate don’t care, but still, I think, not to that extent.

Finally, Raeder, tired, swims up to the pier, and is told that the bombing (?!) of Sevastopol failed and the aviation suffered heavy losses.

Raeder shouts in rage: “Shit! Shit!" After which he goes kayaking on the pond again...

The scene is not only completely false, but also stupid. I repeat once again that the Germans did not purposefully bomb Sevastopol, but threw mines at the entrance channel; besides, there is no data on large losses of German aircraft in that raid. Yes, there could not have been large losses, since the go-ahead for anti-aircraft fire was given when most of the planes had already emptied their bomb bays. And even if someone were actually shot down, Raeder would be sad, because the planes were not his, but Goering’s.

In fact, the main drama then unfolded at the command post of the Black Sea Fleet. This drama with the decision to open fire should have been shown! The fact is that the Black Sea Fleet could not figure out whether our planes were in the air, and therefore no one wanted to take responsibility. Oktyabrsky generally avoided making a decision - like an outsider, repeating only one thing: “Act according to the situation. If there’s even one of our planes in the sky, I’ll shoot you!” By the way, Moscow responded the same way...

As a result, the order to open fire at your own risk was given by the operational duty officer of the Black Sea Fleet headquarters, Captain 2nd Rank N.T. Rybalko. It was he who really risked his head at that moment, and not anyone else.

It’s strange that at one time VGIK did not explain to the filmmakers that if you are making not an alternative historical film, but a real historical film, then the events should be shown as they happened in reality, and not invent a stupid gag.

The finale of the first episode is truly enchanting. Despite the invasion of the German army, the heaviest border battles, the complete loss of control of the fronts and armies, and general confusion, Stalin, sitting surrounded by his comrades and clearly burdened by idleness, summons Kuznetsov, whom he interrogates about the losses of the fleet, although a short call was enough for this. Did Stalin really not have other more important things to do on June 22? Kuznetsov reports that the fleet has no losses. Stalin seemed not to hear him and asked again: “Report the losses of the fleet!” “No losses!” – Kuznetsov says proudly again. End of the first episode...

Needless to say, nothing like the absurd confrontation between Stalin and Kuznetsov shown actually happened, and never could have happened. In fact, Kuznetsov did not create any ad-libs on the eve of the war. There were no objections to Stalin in the Kremlin, nor a stupid vote with his “headquarters” when he, supposedly in defiance of Stalin, declared combat readiness No. 2 in the fleets. In reality, Kuznetsov only quickly and clearly followed the instructions of Stalin and the General Staff, showing reasonable initiative within the limits of what was permitted. This turned out to be quite enough for the Navy to meet June 22 in readiness to repel the first strike. Alas, in the border military districts, due to both objective and subjective factors, everything turned out completely differently.

I will no longer dwell on all the circumstances and nuances of the Navy’s transition to combat readiness No. 2 and combat readiness No. 1. This would take up too much space and turn the review into a historical article. I refer everyone interested in this topic and who wants to truly understand the intricacies of this story to my books “Stalin and the USSR Navy. 1922–1941" (Veche publishing house, 2021), "Stalin and the USSR Navy. 1941–1953" (Veche publishing house, 2021) and "Nikolai Kuznetsov. Stalin’s obstinate henchman” (Library of AFK Sistema, 2022).

In fact, Kuznetsov managed to really do a lot for the Navy on the eve of the war. Alas, for some reason all of his real accomplishments and achievements remained outside the sight of the director and the entire large team of screenwriters, who decided instead of the truth to pour a tub of spreading cranberries onto the heads of inexperienced viewers. Alas, literally every minute of screen time is permeated with lies and incompetence in everything (from uniforms and naval life to political decisions). One can only wonder how the creators of the film “Admiral Kuznetsov” managed to mess up so much! But we only watched and commented on the first episode!

It's hard to even imagine what awaits us in the next episodes. Therefore, we await their release and new authorial discoveries with trepidation. After all, money has already been paid for the alternative history show “Admiral Kuznetsov”, which means it will be continued...

First Palmyra. Bride of the Desert. Part No. 2

 

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. See the link for maps and photos

Text taken from Commissioner Yarrick post

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics

First Palmyra. Bride of the Desert. Part No. 2

The Path to the East

As we remember from previous articles, in the very first days of the Russian operation in the SAR, together with the air group of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the “Syrian Express”, a group of Russian volunteers and military veterans under the command of Dmitry Utkin (“Wagner”, “Ninth”), which was supposed to support the actions of the Syrian army, as well as ensure the implementation of the most complex and dangerous operations. The first meeting of the “musicians” with Syrian militants was the battles in Northern Latakia in the fall of 2015: it was the fighters of the “orchestra” who were in the vanguard of the Syrian troops clearing the approaches to the Russian Khmeimim airbase. Then, with the direct participation and activity of Russian attack aircraft, the fighters of the Syrian army for the first time managed to show a phenomenal result - move from positional warfare to an offensive, shift the front in the mountainous regions of Latakia and divert any threat from the Russian airbase.


Over the next few months, the fighters of the Wagner Group were transferred to the Palmyra area, where they received a new task. The Orchestra fighters had to begin advancing along the route, while the Syrian army was churning the mud near Mkhin and Khavarin, cutting a road directly to Palmyra - but so far without storming the city itself. Having accepted the task, in parallel with the advance of the Syrian army near Jebel al-Hazm, supported by attacks from Russian cruise missiles, the “musicians” began an assault on the eastern slopes of the Jebel Khayal mountains, captured several points and advanced east towards Palmyra.

As the GRAY ZONE Telegram channel notes, by this time the Wagner Group had been completed with new fighters from the assault squads. The total number of the “Orchestra” in Syria by this time reached almost 2.5 thousand people. Since the Palmyra operation already required specialized military equipment, units of heavy armored vehicles, as well as pickup trucks with installed large-caliber weapons, were transferred to the balance of the Wagner Group through the mediation of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Some equipment was captured from the militants, some weapons were transferred to Russian fighters from Syrian units. As a result, by the winter of 2015/16, the Wagner Group was armed with several infantry fighting vehicles, T-90, T-72 and T-62 tanks, armored vehicles, recoilless rifles, ATGMs, numerous variations of Kalashnikov assault rifles (from Russian manufacturers to low-quality Chinese "Samsungs") and even foreign sniper rifles (in particular, Austrian Steyr-Mannlicher).

From the book “Eight Years with Wagner” by Kirill Romanovsky (AST, Leninigrad, 2024)

“We walked through the mountains, along the mountain ridge to the junction. There the road led to Iraq. In principle, from this height we controlled the ridge, but it was difficult to deliver artillery there and, due to the complexity of the terrain, there were problems with the delivery of food. It was both mentally difficult and physically difficult, plus the business trip was long and there were a lot of fights. And if before that I went without losses, then here I already lost my guys.
First, the “Fatimids” disappeared - as if they had disappeared into the ground, although at first everyone said: “Rus, Rus, we are with you everywhere.” And then, just like that, they disappeared. I gave the command to the Syrians so that they, too, began to carry out an offensive - we had all already reached our positions and by time we should have already begun actions. But when I went to the center, I found myself alone with my group. The whole trio - Syrians, Russians and "Fatimids" - were supposed to separate the militants into small groups, and then, in principle, we would quickly, quickly knock them out of there. But we were left alone - and it turned out that for the enemy we were like in a shooting gallery. They concentrated all their fire on us.
As we later found out, the forces of some Indonesians were concentrated there against us. At the same time, there were crests there, which is the most interesting thing. How did we determine? They had our camouflages and “dots,” that is, “assholes,” but in the SAR no one uses “assholes.”

After a series of fierce battles with ISIS, the Wagner Group fighters occupied the area of ​​​​marble quarries, gained a foothold in the mountainous region of Jebel al-Mazar and entered the village of Ad-Dawa, two kilometers west of Palmyra. On November 23, Russian assault troops also took control of the Al-Qadri farms and reached the Jebel Hayyan ridge, coming very close to the “Palmyra Triangle” - the intersection of key routes at the western entrance to the city.

From Kirill Romanovsky’s book “Eight Years with Wagner” (AST, Leningrad, 2024):

“When we reached the height, we hung a vest at the top. Then the Syrians arrived, television, all the bullshit - they dragged themselves there, they wanted to take off the vest and hang a Syrian flag instead. They could have taken it off, but then the Afghans, the “Fatimids,” stood up to defend the vest. They flew up to the Syrians, started shooting at their feet, and pointing to their vest, they said: “Rus, we won’t let anyone hang another flag here.” That's the kind of respect they had.
But the battle was, of course, very difficult. To be honest, we couldn’t even count the number of the enemy - because he was running away from us, taking cover on the sun loungers. But judging by these sun loungers, there were about 30 people. Consider it a whole platoon. Such a good, high-quality support point. First echelon, second echelon, holes. Well, at least aviation helped - if it weren’t for the “flyers”, we would have had to fight for this height for a long time. Now, if the Syrians and “Fatimids” had come with us, then everything would have been simpler, the terrain would have allowed them to see and shoot through everything. By the way, I was very disappointed in the Afghans then. I thought they were a more warlike people. But, as it turned out, no.”

Despite the defeat at Mkhin and the advance of the “musicians” to the outskirts of Palmyra, IS continued stubborn resistance on several sectors of the front. Naturally, the weakest links in this chain turned out to be the positions of the Syrian army: on December 10, while the forces of the Wagner Group were busy clearing the route, mobile units of militants again stormed Mkhin and Khawarin, and also captured the mountainous region of Jebel al-Hazm. During the counterattack, the Syrian army was able to regain control of Khawarin, but the re-liberation of Mkhin took almost three weeks. It was not until December 29 that Syrian government forces established full control over Mkhin and its surroundings.



Things were much better in the main theater of military operations near Palmyra. By December 7, thanks to the successful advance of Wagner fighters, it was possible to establish complete control over the Palmyra-Homs highway, driving out militants from the villages of Bayrat and Bir Murhatan, the last points on the highway that were controlled by IS. On December 19, 2015, the fighters of the “orchestra” came close to the Palmyra Citadel - the castle of Fakhr ad-Din after a fierce battle with the Islamic State. This Wagner Group attack brought government forces within 400 meters of the castle and less than two kilometers from the city gates.

By all logic, it was at this moment that government forces should have begun a direct assault on Palmyra - since all the preparatory work had already been done for them by the fighters of the Wagner Group. However, unforeseen circumstances intervened in the situation; the Palmyra offensive was suspended for three months, and the Syrian troops switched to positional battles around the city.

Delay There

are several reasons and versions why Palmyra was not taken after the first breakthrough of the Wagner Group to the citadel in December 2015. Apparently, the command of the operation assumed that the city would be taken exclusively by Syrian units, without the participation of Russian volunteers, so as not to raise unnecessary fuss about involving the Russians in the war in the Middle East. For these purposes, motorized units of the Tiger Forces of Colonel Suheil al-Hassan, the forces of the 4th Armored Division of the SAA under the command of the brother of the Syrian President Maher Assad, as well as the Desert Falcons unit, created with the money of the Syrian businessman Ayman Jaber, were transferred to Palmyra. However, the situation on other fronts of the Syrian conflict, as well as the workload of the SAA fighters, did not allow them to coordinate efforts on the Palmyra salient.

In particular, on January 12, the Syrian army, with the active support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated the city of Salma from terrorists, which was a key stronghold of the Jabhat al-Nusra militants (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) in the north of Latakia province. On February 3, after the start of clearing the outskirts of Aleppo, the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, broke the four-year blockade of the Shiite enclaves of Nubbol and Al-Zahra in the north of Aleppo province. At the same time, IS militants tried to cut off the group of troops in Aleppo from supplies along the strategic “lifeline” by capturing the city of Khanasser. Let me remind you that fighters of the Wagner Group also took part in this clash, who held back the onslaught of militants, first on the approaches to the city, and then on the heights near Khanasser, together with Russian officers from the operational group of the Russian Armed Forces.

As a result, it was possible to stabilize the situation in Syria and return to the vital issue of returning Palmyra to the control of the Syrian army only after the declared ceasefire, which Russia and the United States agreed on on February 22, 2016. In addition to official Damascus, 97 armed opposition groups, as well as Kurdish armed forces, agreed to these conditions. The truce did not apply to the Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra and other organizations designated as terrorist by the UN Security Council. Under these conditions, there could be no question of a complete regime of silence in Syria. However, a respite in the battles on several fronts made it possible to redistribute forces for the final push towards Palmyra.

During this time, the fighters of the Syrian army, remaining as the “second echelon” in positions near Palmyra, did not take a single step towards the city. Despite the fact that the fighters of the Wagner Group had prepared everything for a rapid advance into the city, the SAA forces were unable to coordinate their efforts and were forced to go on the defensive so as not to lose their positions. At the same time, no one assigned the fighters of the Wagner Group the task of breaking through further path to Palmyra - which is why the entire front around Tadmor fell silent for two months of winter.

From the book “Eight Years with Wagner” by Kirill Romanovsky (AST, Leningrad, 2024):

“It was very cold then, the guys had frostbite before the amputation. Someone's fingers were cut off. The newly arrived soldiers, who had just been recruited, were given “slides” - and there the frosts were from zero to good minus, and the wind was crazy. And this is Palmyra, the heights have already risen - and frostbite has begun. Everything is serious there: you live on the street, there are no tents, there was nothing like that. You lay down the foam and you sleep, and then you catch your kidneys. And you look at the Syrians - they brought a tent, they brought a stove, a bunch of blankets, a bunch of mattresses. The platoon leader and I look at it like this - but we just live on the street, sleep on rocks, the cold is terrible. I was lucky, I was lucky, I also had a fashionable Austrian sleeping bag - it was an amazing save. This is what the company provided at the beginning. And we go straight to the Syrians - can we sleep with you? Well, at least they have a tent and a stove, it’s absolutely amazing. Just when active hostilities entered a slow phase, we spent the night with them for a couple of serious, frosty nights.”

But the militants of the “Islamic State” have more than benefited from the current situation. Realizing that the Syrian army had the first access to Palmyra, the forces of the self-proclaimed “caliphate” threw significant resources at the walls of Tadmor, including experienced fighters from Iraq and other countries. As a result, when a new stage of the battle for Palmyra began in March 2016, the moment of surprise due to the forced downtime was partially lost: the enemy prepared to repel the attack and waited for the attack.

Through thorns...

On March 9, 2016, massive airstrikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces began against the Palmyra area, as well as along the Islamic State’s supply routes from Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. By March 10, IS losses had grown to 32 militants: according to terrorist statistics, 80 air strikes and up to 200 missile and artillery strikes were carried out. After a massive artillery barrage, the command of the Syrian army announced the start of the assault on Palmyra. It was then reported that the key task for the army was to encircle the city to interrupt Islamist communications - and to occupy the powerful defensive system of fortifications built by IS forces along the perimeter of Palmyra.
The only thing that was not indicated in the media then was who would actually get the keys to Palmyra in battle.

On March 12, fighters of the Wagner Group began fighting for the village of Ad-Dawa, two kilometers west of Palmyra. By March 13, strategic heights were taken under control, which made it possible to open the terrorists’ defenses and advance to the city limits. One of the control points was El Barda (“Height 800” and “Height 853”) - two peaks in the Jebel Hayyan mountain range, which covered the southwestern entrance to the city.


El Barda.

From the book “Eight Years with Wagner” by Kirill Romanovsky (AST, Leningrad, 2024):

“El Barda is two heights. On one side stood the “Carpathians”, and the railway ran in the middle. They called her "Neck". They also wanted to roll a train along it, mine it and launch it towards the spirits. Nearby there was a ridge leading to Palmyra. 

It was an interesting fight, but we had a good laugh then. Then the weapons were good, the equipment was supplied. We went to a height on the left flank, the commander of the soldiers standing there told us: “You sit for now, there is still spirit activity there.” We went out, secured a foothold, sat at night, and then my observers reported: “Spirits!” I command “For battle”, everyone went to their positions. The spirits pulled out the DShK, t-r-r-r-r-r in the air, fired - apparently they thought that the Syrians were standing on the high-rise, and just the sounds of the DShK would make them crap their pants.

They walk in tens of them - satisfied, happy: they say the Syrians will leave now, and they will take a position. And we have night vision devices. Plus, one of ours had the Pierce system, it helps the night devices, like the moon - you turn it on and the night devices see well. True, the enemy also sees you well, if he has “night lights”, you can light up. So, the guy turns on “Pierce” - and everyone in the “night lights” sees the territory as during the day. Well, we sat down and, as if at a shooting gallery, started clicking them. We then killed three spirits, the rest literally immediately evaporated.”

It was in this place that the tragic events of March 13, 2016 took place, when the members of the “orchestra” suddenly found themselves under attack from Russian aviation. While firing at the positions of Islamic State militants, an airstrike was carried out with four air bombs from a Su-25 of the Russian Aerospace Forces at the point of temporary deployment of Wagner Group fighters at the heights of El Bard. As a result of the incident, the 4th reconnaissance and assault company of the Wagner PMC, led by Andrei Bogatov (call sign “Brodyaga”), came under attack.

Two fighters died on the spot - “Memphis” and “Cascade”; another fighter with the call sign “Moskvich” subsequently died in a Syrian hospital. “Tramp” himself was seriously wounded - as a result of an explosion of an aerial bomb, Bogatov lost his arm, but subsequently he continued his activities as commander of the “Orchestra”.
For a long time, a semi-official version of the incident near El Barda circulated on the Internet. According to it, the pilot saw a black pirate flag with the Jolly Roger flying over the camp and mistook it for the flag of the Islamic State. According to another version of events, the coordinates of the strike were received by the pilot at the flight control center - however, history is silent about why the MCC did not note that at the indicated point it was not ISIS militants, but “Tramp” and fighters of the 4th SHO.

Kirill Romanovsky, military correspondent for the Federal News Agency:

“The Su-24 aircraft actually “unloaded” four FAB-500s at the position of the Wagner PMC. The coordinates of the temporary deployment point of 4 SHO were entered into the target log... After this incident, the Tramp, having lost one arm, climbed the mountains for three days and pulled out his fighters. There were many wounded, several people died.”


Military correspondent Stepan Yatsko and Hero of Russia Andrei Bogatov.

Following the incident near El Barda, another tragic situation occurred in the ranks of the “orchestra”. Moving along the Jebel Hayyan ridge, the fighters of the 1st assault detachment of the Wagner PMC under the command of Alexander Kuznetsov (call sign “Ratibor”) had to prepare for the assault on the next point of control - the legendary “Height 939”, which actually opened fire control over the road junction at the southwestern entrance to Palmyra, the so-called “Palmyra triangle”. However, on March 16, 2016, in area 939, three Wagner Group fighters were killed during a violent clash with IS militants. Due to the density of fire, it was not possible to remove the bodies of the dead from the battlefield - on the same day, the resources of the “Islamic State” published photographs of one of the dead volunteers, Ivan Sumkin (call sign “Varyag”).



In the same battle, as reported by the GRAY ZONE Telegram channel, an unknown Orchestra fighter with the call sign "Altai" died, as well as a legendary personality - one of the most experienced sappers of the 1st SHO "Ratibor" Evgeniy "Bertolet", who came to " Wagner Group" in 2015. According to participants in the events, a group of fighters set out to carry out mining, but the enemy managed to cut them off from their retreat routes. Subsequently, the story of the death of “Bertolet” became overgrown with legends, since the bodies of the dead could not be pulled out from the battlefield.

Telegram channel GRAY ZONE:

“The patrol missed the flash and the enemy pulled them into a fire bag. After the battle, there were many legends, rumors and gossip. Those who missed the flash said that Bertolet himself went to the spirits and is now teaching them his skills. The version that the participants told is a little closer to reality - he was wounded or stunned, after which he lost consciousness. And only when the group was leaving did they see that Bertolet was being dragged away by the spirits to their side.”


Another tragic incident around Palmyra - which, unlike the tragedy near El Barda and the death of three “musicians”, became known almost immediately - occurred on March 17, 2016. On this day, Islamist forces, taking advantage of a sandstorm, launched a counterattack in the Jebel Hayyan mountains southwest of Palmyra, trying to push back the advancing “orchestra” troops from Hill 939. In response to the intensification of IS operations, government forces were deployed near Palmyra as reinforcements Syrian marines from the province of Latakia and units of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.


Alexander Prokhorenko.

The attack was repelled, but on the same day, near Palmyra, while carrying out the task of directing airstrikes against the most important ISIS targets, a serviceman of the Russian Special Operations Forces, senior lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko, was killed. Finding himself surrounded by militants, the soldier called fire on himself.



For the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, Senior Lieutenant Prokhorenko was awarded the title of Hero of Russia (posthumously). Due to the current situation during the battle, Prokhorenko’s body could not be taken away immediately - later, after the battle, in the morning, ISIS militants would publish videos and photos from the scene of his death. In the future, Prokhorenko’s body will be returned to his homeland through negotiations and ransom through the mediation of Kurdish forces.
By the way, the place of death of Alexander Prokhorenko was only a few hundred meters from the death of Varyag, Bertolet and Altai a day earlier...



Keys to Palmyra

By March 18, full-scale military operations had already unfolded directly under the walls of Palmyra. After taking the heights of Jebel al-Mattar, the fighters of the Wagner Group went along the heights and occupied two key positions in the area of ​​​​the Ancient Palmyra aqueduct. The next few days in the Palmyra direction were marked by positional battles and cleansing. In parallel with the actions of the “musicians” on the ground, Russian strike aviation provided support to the attackers: according to the statement of the Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Sergei Rudsky, the Russian Aerospace Forces forces carried out up to 25 sorties per day during these days.



The work of the “orchestra” fighters on the heights around Palmyra brought its successes: on March 22, the former villa of the Qatari Sheikh Tamim ibn Hamid, located in the center of the “Palmyra Triangle” road junction, was occupied. During the 10 months of occupation, IS militants converted the former possessions of the sheikh into a training base and a powerful fortified area. The capture of the “Qatari villa” predetermined the outcome of the battles for the “triangle”: after the Jebel Hayyan ridge was completely cleared of militants, the fighters of the “orchestra” were able to get close to the “Gardens of Palmyra” - an oasis in the desert, where several thousand years of cultivation had taken place. dozens of generations of city residents.

The first assault on Palmyra was officially launched on March 24, 2016. On this day, as reported in the media, Syrian troops came very close to the historical part of Palmyra - although, in reality, the Syrian army only got close to the Palmyra necropolis. But the fighters of the Wagner PMC, continuing the cleanup before the final push on Palmyra, completely occupied the ancient quarries of Palmyra. The battle for the area of ​​​​the old marble quarries began during the advance to 939, but after clearing the ridge, the militants could no longer hold this area and were forced to retreat to Palmyra.

From the book by Kirill Romanovsky “Eight Years with Wagner” (AST, Leningrad, 2024):

“I remember my first fight. It was a good fight. 939 had a task when we entered the quarry. Before this, I had never been in a serious battle, when you directly see the enemy. Before that, the Caucasus, all this, but everything was a little different there. And in this fight - yes, direct contact.
We found the spirits - they were just praying, and that’s why they fucked us up. We approached - on the right there was 939, a quarry, and we were hanging around there because there was no clear task. There was another unit to our right. We went to the left, there’s a “boob” about 300-400 meters away - and there’s a parapet on it.
There were guys next to me that I looked at and that was it. Yes, at first, of course, there was a moment, I was with a machine gun, at first there was a slight stupor, as if they had fallen onto the parapet. I also found a radar gun at the very beginning of the battle. This comrade who later ran away from a grenade. So what - the fight started, I worked, I looked - I fell and that’s it. Then it was already flooded.”

IS militants, who set up a layered defense on the outskirts and in the center of the city, tried to delay the advance of groups of “musicians” in certain areas in order to tie the fighters into dense urban battles. The main firing points of the terrorists were former hotels converted into bunkers - in particular, Semiramis and Didiman in the southwest of Palmyra. These two hotels attempted to block passage from the Palmyra Gardens after the capture of Az Ziraa.
Another direction of attack was Mount Jebel Kasyoun and the citadel of Palmyra located on it - the medieval castle of Fakhr ad-Din. After the fighters of the “orchestra” managed to completely clear the mountainous region of Jebel al-Mattar, which covered the castle on the western side, on March 25, the fighters of the “Wagner Group” began an assault on the citadel. The first strike established control over the communications tower and Al-Mantar peak. These two points became the last strongholds of ISIS on the way to Jebel Kasyoun: by evening, the citadel, which is the control point of the entire Palmyra oasis, came under the control of Russian volunteers.


The flag of the Islamic State, which had flown for 10 months over the Fakhr ad-Din castle, was handed over to Syrian units - and the soldiers of the Tiger Forces of Colonel Suheil al-Hassan demonstratively burned it.



Already on March 26, it became clear: IS is rapidly losing control of Palmyra. The capture of height 939 by the Ratibor detachment predetermined the complete defeat of the militants under the walls of Tadmor: realizing that they could not hold the city, the militants turned around and hastily began to leave Palmyra. At this moment, the defeat was completed by the attack of the 1st SHO of the Wagner PMC, which began an assault on the Tadmor airport, which the militants had turned into a major defense hub. Attacks by Russian volunteers and the intensive work of the Russian Aerospace Forces, which during these days carried out up to 40 sorties per day, forced the IS forces to retreat from the city. On March 27, the Syrian Central Command announced the complete liberation of Palmyra.



At this moment, the Syrian army, following the mysterious fighters from the Wagner Group, occupied Palmyra and its archaeological complex. And on March 28, in the center of Palmyra at 15:00 local time, the state flag of the Syrian Arab Republic was raised again.


“By the competent decision of the commander and the coordinated actions of our employees, the ancient city was liberated by the end of March 2016. This operation was carried out exclusively by soldiers of the Wagner PMC. We cannot remain silent about our fallen comrades during the liberation of the ancient city. But as a result, the role of the Wagner PMC in the fight against terrorism was hidden from the public. Our unit did not pursue fame, awards and “copper pipes”, but simply fulfilled the assigned tasks with honor and dignity by the leadership of our Country and the management of our company.”

“Musicians with machine guns”

The liberation of Palmyra after 10 months of occupation by IS militants was the first truly key event in the Syrian conflict. Thanks to the help of the Wagner PMC fighters, as well as the close work of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Special Operations Forces, the Syrian army was able to regain control of an important strategic hub in the central part of the country. In addition, this victory marked the gradual liberation of Syria from the yoke of an international terrorist group: after Palmyra, fierce battles began for El-Qaryatein, and by April 3, the city was completely liberated.

However, the IS militants, despite the defeat, retained a powerful offensive potential. First of all, this concerned the situation in the Palmyra area: despite the liberation, several problems remained unresolved after the capture of the city and it was not possible to create a full-fledged “security zone” around Palmyra. Under these conditions, Islamic State militants repeatedly carried out raids against Syrian troops on gas fields northwest of Palmyra and near the eastern border of the city - in the area of ​​​​the destroyed grain elevator. Finally, it was the continued instability in the Palmyra salient that predetermined the events in December 2016, when IS forces launched a new large-scale offensive on Palmyra.


Symphony orchestra concert in Palmyra

But all this will happen later. In the meantime, a symphony orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev played in the ancient amphitheater of Palmyra. And few of those who watched the concert in the heart of the Syrian desert knew that very close by were “musicians” of a completely different kind. By the way, it was then that the nickname “musicians” was assigned to the Wagner PMC, just as the PMC prefix itself, which was born in the publications of the liberal press, was firmly attached to the fighters of the battalion tactical group. The nickname “Orchestra” will finally take shape in December 2016 - when Palmyra is again captured by ISIS militants, and journalists will write about how Wagner fighters stormed Palmyra for the first time:

“After the liberation of Palmyra, the Russian Ministry of Defense held a concert in the ancient amphitheater of the city. They played Prokofiev's music. It is quite possible that musicians may appear in this city again. Only these will be “musicians” with machine guns - a ghostly “Wagner group.”



Ahead of the Wagner PMC will be a difficult return to Russia, a new business trip to Palmyra with the goal of the final liberation of the city and the return of light to the homes of ordinary Syrian citizens. We have already talked about this on the pages of our chronicle, but there is still something to be said.

In the meantime...

From Kirill Romanovsky’s book “Eight Years with Wagner” (AST, Leningrad, 2024):

“Heroism is such a strange concept - it’s an adrenaline rush in a person. After all, all this happens under the influence of drugs that our body produces, hormones. And all this heroism... yes, the guys are great, sometimes they show such things that you are shocked, but this is all under the influence of hormones, and not the human factor.
I remember I once observed near Palmyra, from a distance of 800 meters I looked through the optics. Our first unit was moving, Detachment No. 1. I don’t know who it was, but I see: a guy runs into a trench, throws a grenade, makes a long burst there, jumps into the trench, and immediately jumps out of it. There's an explosion behind him - that's right, someone threw a grenade at him - and he shoots again, into the enemy trench, and only then climbs back in, and gets lost in the ISIS trenches. It was just like in the movies, in action films. I don’t know who this is, but the action is awesome. You only see this in action movies.”

First Palmyra. Bride of the Desert. Part 1

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. See the link for maps and photos

Text taken from Commissioner Yarrick post

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics

Large and very detailed material in two parts about the first liberation of Palmyra.

First Palmyra. Desert Bride

With a noose around the neck

In 2014, the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, where by that time there was already a long-term military conflict, changed dramatically. By mid-summer 2014, militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) ousted the forces of moderate and radical opposition from Eastern Syria, occupying almost the entire province of Deir ez-Zor. On June 30, 2014, the leader of ISIS militants Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the creation of a “caliphate” - a terrorist quasi-state in the territories of Syria and Iraq with claims to global expansion.

Having no other opponents among competing groups in eastern Syria, ISIS militants (which by that time had changed its name to IS - “Islamic State”, thereby removing the regional link) soon moved on to attacks on Syrian government forces. In August and December 2014, IS gangs attacked the Deir ez-Zor airbase and surrounding areas of the city, blockading the last Syrian army enclave on the banks of the Euphrates. And in parallel with this, IS is making its first forays into Central Syria with the aim of capturing strongholds of the government army.

On July 16, 2014, a small mobile force of 100 experienced IS fighters attacked the Al-Sha'ir gas field northwest of Palmyra. The gas field was defended by about 400 SAA soldiers and National Defense Forces militias, supported by Syrian Air Force aircraft from the nearby Shayrat airbase. After 12 hours of continuous fighting, IS captured eight checkpoints around the field, encircling Syrian army units. Only 30 military personnel managed to escape from the “cauldron”: the 270 people remaining on Al-Shair, including 11 civilian workers, were executed by the militants. Up to 200 more people who found themselves in the “cauldron” remained in captivity or went missing.

Ten days later, the army reoccupied the gas field, but IS militants left al-Shair for the mountainous areas of Eastern Homs. At the end of October, IS attacked the gas field again, briefly capturing al-Sha'ir and the area of ​​the Hayyan Petroleum Company gas processing complex. Despite the fact that the militants were unable to gain a foothold on these lines, in fact the government army did not control significant parts of the mountain ranges of Eastern Homs and Eastern Hama, and also could not adequately respond to militant attacks coming from the so-called “White Desert”.

As a result, by the spring of 2015, Islamic State militants occupied significant territories in Central Syria, tightening the “noose” around Palmyra and its gas fields. The northern wall of the Palmyra “pocket” became the Akerbat district in the east of Hama: thanks to the mountain range, the settlement of Akerbat and the adjacent territories turned into a complex fortified area in which up to several thousand militants were concentrated. South of Palmyra, terrorists operated north of the town of Al-Tanf, attacking the Khneifis phosphate deposits. Given the control of ISIS over the entire province of Deir ez-Zor, all this posed a great threat to Palmyra and its environs.

The Fall of Palmyra

On May 12, 2015, the government army transferred part of its forces to the province of Idlib, where fighting was taking place with the Islamic State militants. The leaders of ISIS considered this a convenient opportunity to launch an attack on the Palmyra area. The next day, May 13, the militants launched a large-scale offensive against the positions of the Syrian military in two directions at once. The Islamists' goal was to capture Palmyra itself, as well as a number of military facilities, in particular weapons depots located near the city.

The first blow of the Islamic State fell on the town of Es-Sukhne, east of Palmyra: as a result of a massive offensive, supported by suicide attacks on “jihad mobiles”, panic began among the civilian population in the city. The fighting took place right on the streets of Es-Sukhneh, including near the headquarters of the Baath Party and the city hospital.

After a day of urban fighting, by May 14, the militants completely controlled the city and the highway to Palmyra, knocking out government forces from Es-Sukhneh. On the same day, terrorists tried to break into the eastern regions of Palmyra, but were quickly driven out of there by government troops. Throughout the day, IS fighters broke through to the city prison building and the airport, unsuccessfully trying to seize heavy weapons along the way.

On May 15, the Syrian army sent reinforcements to Palmyra while IS forces were one kilometer away from the city. An attempt at a counter-offensive by Syrian troops only made it possible to hold back IS attacks for a short time and prevent the militants from breaking through to the archaeological antiquities zone of the Old City. Having moved away from the eastern outskirts by about two kilometers, the Islamists occupied the northern part of the village of Al-Amiriya, and at night they again tried to capture the ancient complex of Palmyra.

On May 16, IS militants broke into the archaeological zone and captured the ruins of the medieval castle of Fakhr ad-Din. During the offensive, militants captured the northern part of Palmyra after a massive attack. By May 17, government forces were able to oust the militants from the city, but IS gained a foothold in the Al-Amiriya area and east of Palmyra, where the Islamists captured the T-3 pumping station and the Al-Hil gas field.

On May 18–20, fighting continued for Al-Amiriya, which changed hands several times. In addition, IS militants tried to open a “second front” northwest of Palmyra, attacking the Syrian army in the area of ​​the Jazal oil field. As a result of prolonged fighting in this direction, 48 soldiers and 30 militants were killed, and another 150 Syrian soldiers were injured.

The denouement came on May 20: having completely captured Al-Amiriya, IS managed to advance into Palmyra from the north and northeast and occupy a third of the city. The militant attacks in the remaining defense sectors were stopped, but the arrival of IS reinforcements in the amount of 800 militants completed the breakthrough into the city. By mid-day, the militants completely controlled Palmyra, except for the city prison building in the east and the military intelligence headquarters in the west. By evening, all Syrian armed forces had withdrawn from the city to its outskirts, and IS militants had gained a foothold in the Tadmor airport area.


On May 21, IS forces entered the archaeological complex of Palmyra. At the same time, militants captured the al-Tanf checkpoint, which was the last border crossing with Iraq controlled by the Syrian army. Between 23 and 24 May, militants advanced into the Tell al-Sawwana area and captured the old air-missile battalion base on the Palmyra-Homs road, resulting in the capture of 22 soldiers.

On May 25, IS militants attacked the Jazal oil field to ensure control of the strategic gas fields that supply electricity and gas to the western part of the country. After four hours of fighting, the assault was repulsed, but the battle for Jazal continued further. As a result of the IS breakthrough, by May 26, the front line shifted to the area of ​​Fruclus, Al-Qaryatein and Tiyas.

Invasion of the Barbarians

The fall of Palmyra was accompanied by numerous crimes and atrocities committed by IS militants. Here is just an incomplete list of crimes of which Islamists were guilty.

Almost immediately after capturing the city, IS began mass purges and executions among residents who did not have time to evacuate from Palmyra. Islamists carried out door-to-door searches to find and kill any government supporters or fugitive soldiers. On May 22, 2015, various sources reported that militants executed between 150 and 280 supporters of President Bashar al-Assad's government and soldiers. Executions were carried out in the streets and city square by gunshot or beheading, and another 600 people were later detained and executed.


A little more than a month after the capture of the city, the militants began the methodical and merciless destruction of the antiquities of Palmyra, UNESCO cultural heritage sites. On June 27, the “Lion of Allat” statue was demolished, on August 23, the Temple of Baalshamin was blown up, and on August 30, 2015, Islamists blew up the Temple of Bel, destroying its main sanctuary. On September 4, three funeral towers in the Palmyra Valley of the Tombs were destroyed. But the most barbaric act of the Islamists was the destruction of the symbol of Palmyra - the Triumphal Arch of the era of Ancient Rome, which was blown up on October 5, 2015.

In addition, the archaeological complex of Palmyra has become another arena for the bloody PR of IS militants. In early July 2015, the terrorist organization released a video showing 25 teenagers recruited by IS executing adult captives on the stage of the Palmyra amphitheater.


Another blow from the Islamists fell on the Palmyra National Museum, where unique exhibits and archaeological finds were collected. In search of gold and other treasures, terrorists killed the museum's chief caretaker, Khaled al-Asaad, a prominent archaeologist who did not leave the ancient city to which he had devoted his entire life to studying. His remains will be discovered in mass graves around Tadmor only after the final liberation of the city.

Concern for the cultural heritage of Palmyra did not exhaust the entire range of problems that befell the Syrian government forces after the massive breakthrough of the militants. Firstly, the city is located at the crossroads of major highways and main communications, and primarily the Damascus-Deir ez-Zor highway, cut by militants. The issue of control over Palmyra was thus re-qualified as the issue of control over all of Central Syria.


Desert near Palmyra

Secondly, we must not forget about the economic infrastructure around the ancient city. The oil and gas fields of Palmyra are not so well developed, unlike, for example, the fields in Deir ez-Zor or Raqqa. However, the Jazal gas fields (at that time partially occupied by militants), as well as installations in al-Sha'ir and Tell al-Sawwan, account for about 60% of resource production in the entire Homs province and power the entire central part of the country. Thus, in addition to the obvious strategic advantage in the war against militants, the Syrian army had to secure the fields from IS raids.

On the brink of death

The first attempt to recapture Palmyra was made by the Syrian army in July-August 2015. On July 8, the Syrian Arab Army and the National Defense Forces (NDF), with the support of the Syrian Air Force, launched an attack on Palmyra and by the next day controlled positions 10 kilometers from the city. After fierce fighting, by July 13, the Syrian army's Tiger Forces special forces occupied the area of ​​ancient marble quarries northwest of Palmyra.
According to information received at the time, Syrian troops were less than two kilometers from Mount Jebel Kasyoun, which covered the historical center of Palmyra. In parallel with the actions in the Palmyra area, on July 15, the SAA and the National Defense Forces, advancing along the southern end of the militant breakthrough, managed to occupy Al-Mashtal farms and the ruins of Qasr al-Kheir al-Gharbi castle, south of the T-4 military airbase. Also on July 15, fighting between IS and the Tiger Forces moved southeast of the ancient quarries.

Advance to Palmyra

Fighting around Palmyra continued on July 20 and 22. On July 24, the SAA resumed operations in the direction of the southern perimeter of the quarries and began advancing into the Jebel al-Tar and Jebel Khayal mountain ranges. On July 26, Syrian government forces occupied several hills in these mountainous areas, which overlooked the Palmyra valley. On July 27, troops of the Syrian army, with the support of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, occupied the Fakhr ad-Din castle after a three-hour firefight, causing panic among the IS militants. However, the leaders of the Islamic State did not want to surrender the strategically important node. Taking advantage of the stretched communications of the Syrian army, IS forces were able to turn the tide of the battle in their favor, putting all of Syria on the brink of destruction.

In parallel with repelling the attack of the Syrian army on Palmyra, the leaders of the Islamic State transferred fresh forces to the northern and southern directions - up to 2 thousand experienced fighters from Iraq. On August 4, IS mobile units simultaneously launched a counter-offensive from two sides of the Palmyra salient - in the area of ​​Mount Jebel Hamr al-Jisel and ancient quarries from the north, and in the area of ​​the strategic settlement of Al-Qaryatein from the south.

The main goal of the militants was to break through to the Homs-Palmyra highway, thereby closing the encirclement of Syrian troops near Palmyra. Faced with a high risk of falling into a “cauldron,” the army command had to quickly transfer forces to the breakthrough areas. On August 5, the SAA managed to repel the ISIS attack and regain most of the lost territory in the north. However, the southern group of troops was unable to repel the attack, and by the evening of August 5, the militants captured Al-Qaryatein. The next day, Islamic State troops took 230 civilians, including at least 60 Christians, out of the city to an unknown destination.


The fall of El Qaryatein caused the final collapse of the southern part of the Palmyra salient: by August 8, the militants made their way even further, capturing the Christian city of Mkhin and the settlement of Hawarin. After the massacre carried out by militants in the city, IS was able to break through to the M-5 Damascus-Aleppo highway, cutting off the only major supply route for government forces and splitting the territory controlled by Damascus in two. In addition, there was a high probability of militants moving towards the border with Lebanon and expanding the geography of the self-proclaimed “caliphate” of the Islamic State. To top all the troubles, the Syrian army began to rapidly lose control over the gas fields: on September 7, IS troops captured the Jazal field, the last one controlled by government troops.

Under these conditions, on September 30, 2015, Russia officially announces the start of a military operation in Syria at the request of the legitimate government of the country. From this moment on, the situation in the Palmyra area begins to change dramatically.

Retaliatory strike

Throughout October, the Russian Air Force carried out strikes on militant positions in various provinces of Syria, providing air support to the actions of the Syrian army. Starting from October 9, Russia increased the intensity of combat aircraft sorties in Syria. During the day, 64 combat sorties were carried out from the Khmeimim airbase on Su-34, Su-24M and Su-25SM aircraft against 55 IS targets.


The key task at the first stage of the offensive of the Syrian troops with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces was to eliminate the consequences of the ISIS breakthrough and push the militants back from the M-5 highway. After the SAA forces attacked IS positions from the village of Sadad, they managed to gain a foothold on several key heights in the Jebel al-Hazm area. Over the next few weeks, the strategic heights around Mkhin became the main target of Syrian troops.

On November 17, SAA forces occupied Jebel al-Hazm and gained fire control over Mkhin. The pace of advance of the Syrian army was supported by air and missile strikes carried out against IS militants by Russian forces. On November 16, 2015, President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting following the investigation into the terrorist attack on board the A-321 aircraft over the Sinai Peninsula, ordered increased air strikes against IS targets in Syria. The next day, as a result of “retaliation strikes,” 14 militant command posts were hit by 34 cruise missiles. Long-range aircraft of the Russian Federation and the Navy also joined the fight against the Islamists. On November 20, ships of the Caspian Flotilla launched 18 Caliber cruise missiles at terrorist targets in Syria. During the strikes, 15 oil storage and processing facilities and 525 tank trucks were destroyed, as a result of which the supply of up to 60 thousand tons of oil per day to the black market was stopped.

The significant erosion of the financial, economic base and human resources of IS militants has affected the group’s combat effectiveness. As a result, on November 22, 2015, government forces occupied the mountainous region of Jebel Mhin, liberated the settlement of Khawarin and entered the city of Mhin, which was completely defended by November 23. The IS fighters holding these lines retreated to Al-Qaryatein.

An attentive reader, when listing the above, may wonder why such a high density of fire was required in the early stages of the operation near Palmyra, especially around Makhin. The problem was that the main goal at this conditionally preparatory stage was to stabilize the situation in the Palmyra area with the subsequent transition of the partially demoralized Syrian army to a counteroffensive. However, faced with fatal problems in training and lack of skills among the Syrian soldiers, as well as problems with holding occupied positions near Mkhin and Khawarin, the command of the operation was forced to abandon this idea. Against this background, Russian pilots and missile battalions had to literally burn out any concentrations of IS forces that could interfere with the Syrian army. However, even despite the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Special Operations Forces and the Russian command, Syrian soldiers, at best, could form a “second echelon” that would occupy Palmyra after liberation. However, someone had to carry out the actual operation to storm the ancient city, and the Syrian soldiers did not have the strength to do this.

From Kirill Romanovsky’s book “Eight Years with Wagner” (AST, Leningrad, 2024):

“The Syrians, to be honest, surprised with their... I don’t know, negligence or something. How did they fight with such weapons? Everything is rusty and crooked.

The first time we came to Syria there was an incident. We also stood with one Syrian - and he turned out to be Orthodox, not a Muslim. At that time we were given army rations, and in it there was lard - that kind of lard, sealed. It is impossible to eat it - but this Syrian ate it, and he was fine. There was a crackling sound behind my ears. In short, we fed him this lard.

And then somehow he comes to us, he also brings food from himself - this was a barter, we gave him lard, and he gave us all kinds of local food. We sit, have dinner, talk. He said that in the army they were given one horn per machine gun. And as the “hell” [enemies] climbed in, they shot back, threw down their guns and ran away.

I decided to see how the Syrians fight if they throw guns. I took his machine gun and took it apart. And it is rusty beyond belief. I say: “It needs to be cleaned, back and forth.” And his eyes cost five kopecks - he went nuts, he thought that I had broken his machine gun. He didn't even know how to disassemble the machine gun. I say, come on, put it together, and he says, why did you break it for me? Well, I started showing him how to assemble and disassemble. In the end, under my leadership, they collected it. Then I say - figure it out yourself.

He showed that the barrel needs to be cleaned constantly, the mechanism. Because the sand, these sand storms, made the machine jam so bad that it wouldn’t fire at all. Well, while he was with us all the time, we taught him how to disassemble and clean the machine gun. He later invited us to visit - he lived in Latakia, his family lives in Europe, and he is there in the mountains.”

In addition to difficulties with the level of training of the Syrian troops, the position of the army at the front was complicated by several serious problems directly related to the attack on Palmyra:

1. Complexity of the terrain
Due to the fact that Palmyra is an ancient crossroads of trade routes, the city has natural protection. On the western side it is protected from attack by a high mountain ridge and individual peaks, the key height among which is Jebel Kasjun with an old Arab citadel. Most of the peaks were captured by IS in a timely manner. At these positions, the terrorists organized powerful fortifications to conduct crossfire on the approaches to the city.

2. Open sections of the front
An additional difficulty was presented at the first stage of the offensive by several open sections of the front against the Islamic State, where the militants launched a counter-offensive. 16 kilometers from the city, terrorists attacked units of the Syrian army in the area of ​​the Jazal oil field, pushing them to the Jebel al-Abyad highlands, which was also partially controlled by other IS units. In such conditions, it turned out to be difficult to carry out an attack on Palmyra, with the constant threat of encirclement.

3. Historical heritage
Since Palmyra is a UNESCO cultural heritage site, the attacking units had to carefully work out this section of the front so that objects in the historical part of the city would not be damaged. But the problem could not be solved by an offensive operation alone: ​​judging by incoming intelligence data, the militants had mined most of the archaeological complex of Palmyra, which added difficulties to the advance.

To solve all three problems, it was necessary to recapture the areas around Palmyra literally “centimeter by centimeter” in order to prepare a springboard for a future offensive. And here the command of the operation has an unexpected ace up its sleeve - a group of Russian volunteers and veterans of hot spots, assembled under the auspices of Yevgeny Prigozhin and named BTG “Wagner”.

(c) Commissioner Yarrick

https://boosty.to/astramilitarum/posts/324d1968-c52f-41de-9f35-84a303b50fa9 - zinc