Russia claims Syria air defenses shot down 71 of 103 missiles

wnd.com ^ | 4/15/2018 | unk

[AdmSmith]

Here is a report from 2013 about Russian, Iranian and NK (+ German companies) involvement. : Syria’s Chemical Weapons: Is Disarmament Possible? by Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Dany Shoham

In 1993, Syria acquired at least 800 kilograms of raw material for production of an updated version of VX, through a straw company established by the retired general Anatoly Kuntsevich, at that time Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s adviser on chemical disarmament and commander of the Russian Military Academy for Chemical Warfare. The material was smuggled from the academy, apparently together with technological knowledge about its use.(Kuntsevich was later sacked.) Russian suppliers are believed to have provided additional raw materials via Cyprus, and to have facilitated Syria’s production of advanced VX and its development of improved cluster chemical warheads.

Former US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for International Technology Security, John Shaw, confirmed in 2006 that a wide-scale smuggling operation of CBW from Iraq to Syria took place in 2003. The goal of the clean-up was “to erase all trace of Russian involvement” in Iraqi WMD programs, and “was a masterpiece of military camouflage and deception.” Shaw noted this type of Russian GRU operation, known as “Sarandar,” or “emergency exit,” has long been familiar to US intelligence as standard GRU practice.

https://besacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/perspectives214.pdf