BBC's claim about Russia transferring Syrian mercenaries through Armenia is unfounded
Yesterday the BCC published a video about mercenaries from Syria being sent to Russia to fight Ukraine.
In the video, a Syrian tells how people are recruited and taken away, but does not indicate anything specific about the route by which the militants get from Syria to Russia.
The video of the BBC tells that in the early days of the Russian-Ukrainian war, information was spread in the Turkish press that mercenaries from Syria arrived in Armenia and were transferred to Russia. As confirmation of the claims of the Turkish press, the BBC reports that it found Russian RA-85041 aircraft, which "a few days after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war took off from Syrian Latakia to Yerevan's “Erebuni” airport, and then to the Russian Mozdok." The British media also presents the trajectory of the aircraft.
The RA-85041 aircraft belonging to the Russian Air Force, mentioned by the BBC, actually arrived in Armenia after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, then went to Russia.Source "Flightradar24"
The “Flightradar24” platform, which tracks aircraft flights, shows that on February 27, at 07:59, the RA-85041 took off from Latakia and landed in Armenia at 11:48.
Despite the fact that “Flightradar24” notes that the plane landed at "Zvartnots" airport, the map shows that the plane actually landed at the "Erebuni" military airport.In the picture: "Zvartnots" is marked in red, "Erebuni" is marked in yellow
The flightaware.com website notes that the plane landed at the "Erebuni" airport.
Then the plane left Armenia at 15:53 for Russia.The flight from Armenia to Russia
On the same day, the plane returned to Latakia, but not through the airspace of Armenia. On February 28, at 13:00, the plane flew from Latakia to Armenia and landed in "Erebuni" at 16:20.
On the same day, the plane took off from Armenia to the Russian airport "Privolzhskiy".
From there, the RA-85041 took off for Chkalovskiy airport.
However, the fact that a plane arrived from Syria to Armenia, then to Russia, is not yet a reason to claim that Syrian mercenaries were transported by that plane. If Russia wanted to transfer mercenaries from Syria, it is not necessary to land in Armenia first and then leave for Russia.
It shows on "Flightradar24" that both before and after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, there were direct flights from Syria to Russia and back on this plane. On January 30, for example, there was a direct flight from Latakia to Moscow. Such a flight was made on February 18 as well.
On March 19, after the start of the war, this plane had a direct flight from Damascus to Moscow, and on March 25 - a flight from Latakia to Moscow.
To transfer mercenaries from Latakia or another part of Syria, it’s not necessary to do it through Armenia. The fact that the Russian RA-85041 plane arrived from Syria to the Armenian "Erebuni" airport, and from there flew to the Russian Federation, doesn’t prove the fact of transferring mercenaries on that plane.
In addition, the Armenian side has officially denied this information. “The false news that terrorists are being transferred to Ukraine through the territory of Armenia is presented as truth. Every more or less informed one knows that Armenia, which suffered from the involvement of mercenary-terrorists in the war against it two years ago, can never contribute to their involvement in other places, this is completely absurd information,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at today’s Government session.
The Turkish source noted by the BBC is "Haber Global", which claims that Russian mercenaries from Mozdok moved from the Middle East through Armenia, without substantiating their claims in any way. The same media spread the information about Armenia providing Russia with Su-30, which was later denied both by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, as well as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Thus, the BBC, as a justification for the information spread by the Turkish media, cites the fact that the Russian RA-85041 plane arrived from Syria at the Armenian “Erebuni” airport and left for Russia. However, the media doesn’t present other facts. The fact of the arrival and departure of the plane doesn’t prove in any way that Syrian mercenaries were transferred.
16:51 - 31 March, 2022
