By Vestnik Kavkaza
General Sergei Kanchukov, the former head of intelligence group of troops of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in Chechnya, comments on the situation in the security sphere in the North Caucasus for Vestnik Kavkaza.
- Sergey Alexeyevich, what can you say about the anti-terrorist work in the North Caucasus in recent years?
- I think it is positive. A lot of problems have been solved; a lot has been done in the sphere of politics, economy, and defense. There is no politics and no security without economy. So, allocation of extra finances to the North Caucasus republics means that the government and President pay close attention to the region. We can see how Grozny has been reconstructed. There are problems, they should be solved.
- What should be done to defeat terrorism in Russia? Why did Israel succeed, while Russia didn’t?
- There are explosions in Israel as well, even though it has one of the most powerful force structures and intelligent groups in the world, and its borders are closed. Our borders are open, always. Financing of militants can be provided from abroad. The most important is that international terrorist organizations have certain political goals. Al Qaeda was established by the U.S. for settlement of tasks in Afghanistan against Russia. And it continues to fulfil the tasks. There are various ways to settle political tasks, one of them is terrorism. I think stiffer measures will be taken, and people should understand that it is done for their security.
- How many natives from the North Caucasus are fighting in Syrian today?
- Information is ambiguous. The mass media states about 4 thousand. I think it is smaller. Many people feel cheated and don’t understand what they fight for. There was information that a militant was captured in Syria and he said: “I am not fighting against Syria, I am fighting against Israel”… or someone else. Ideological influence is huge. Financing is aimed at prevention of Russia from development. All our troubles come from there.
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As for Syria directly, according to Kanchukov, on the example of Syria “the U.S. is now working out a scenario on which it will then act, and it is partially applicable to Russia. I think we all need to understand and evaluate this. Iran is not playing such an important role in international affairs as Russia. Therefore, all the released militants, who, if the victory is on the U.S. side, will be released , will come to us to the North Caucasus, will come to us to the Volga region and will destabilize the situation here.”
Speaking about forces and measures which can be used by the Americans, Kanchukov stated: “The United States initially decided to target only with cruise missiles. Today, there was information that they already want to use strategic aircraft and aviation in general. Let's see: the press has published information that the U.S. is now able to use about 400 cruise missiles. Some estimates indicate that this is not true. The entire group which has now been established can use up to 1000 or more cruise missiles. These are only the "Tomahawk" cruise missiles without tactical aircraft from the "Nimitz” aircraft carrier, which is now coming to the Red Sea.”
Kanchukov says that “if Obama orders Syria's air defense system to be completely destroyed and ensure action in its entirety without the use of a ground-based group, i.e. they will use the militants and an air component, the strike will be applied by cruise missiles and from aircraft carriers, this is one response, and Syria would be able to respond.
Why? We're a little obsessed with precision weapons and the capabilities of cruise missiles. And in fact, even in those early years when the U.S. conducted the war in Iraq, the demoralized army that was in Iraq that was, in fact, unable to perform combat missions, shot down cruise missiles. As for the Syrian army, for two years it has gained a lot of experience. There are drawbacks, of course - especially in the organization of interaction. But we must also understand, consider and hope that China supplied them with good radar stations, that Russia still supports it and also supplied radars, and this is primarily important for intelligence, because the battle with cruise missiles and the whole armed struggle rests on investigation. If they discover the launch of cruise missiles in time, the missile will be flying to Syria for about an hour. In an hour you can resolve any issues.
Plus the defense posture: a simple calculation shows that the overlap is 8-10. While our combat-ready S-200s are in Syria, air strikes cannot be expected. Cruise missiles will be shot down in large numbers, ranging from the ordinary ANC that can destroy these cruise missiles, everything will depend on defense and building lines, and ending with the rest of the forces and means, that is, air defense systems of near and medium range. I think that the Syrian army is able to do this, and such an easy stroll as happened in Libya, when they struck first with 90 cruise missiles and completely destroyed command centers and air defense systems, will not take place.”
