In March, Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, said that if the US sought to strike Syria in response to a chemical attack, Russia would use its air defence systems and other weapons to respond in case of a threat to Russian servicemen in the region
Gerasimov said Russian military advisers and members of several Russian missions to Syria, including military police and conflict resolution specialists, were based in Damascus at the headquarters of the Syrian defence ministry and at other Syrian military sites.
“In the case of a threat to the lives of our servicemen, the Russian military armed forces will take response measures against both the rockets, and the platforms from which they’re fired,” he said.
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Lavrov’s deputy, Mikhail Bogdanov, called the threat of a strike “extremely dangerous” but said he did not think a direct military clash with the US was likely. “I think it does not exist,” he told journalists. “I believe that common sense should prevail over insanity.”
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