{"id":7456,"date":"2016-01-22T12:01:55","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T12:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/?p=7456"},"modified":"2016-01-24T12:30:15","modified_gmt":"2016-01-24T12:30:15","slug":"jan22-syria-556th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/jan22-syria-556th\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilots of the 566th Air Dispatch Regiment in Syria. Identification of Frolov"},"content":{"rendered":"

The war in Syria gradually becomes more severe and is very far from the end, so the ‘logistics’ of war demands more and more resources from Russia. \u00a0Military transport aviation plays an important role in provisioning the Russian troops in Syria. That is why the number of the Russian military bases, which are used for transportation of military cargo to the Middle East, gradually increases.<\/p>\n

The investigation conducted by volunteers of InformNapalm international community proves that the Kremlin uses the crews of the ‘Seshcha’\u00a0airbase, situated in the city of the same name in Bryansk Oblast\u00a0for transportation of military cargo to Syria. The airbase is home for the 566th regiment (military unit No. 41495) from the 12th division of military transport aviation of the 61st air army. The regiment possesses, among others, the Il-76 and An-124\u00a0airplanes.<\/p>\n

The information about the ‘Syrian assignment’\u00a0of the pilots of the 566th regiment can be found in the blog of the Russian flight engineer, senior lieutenant Dmitry Frolov<\/a>, born on November 15,\u00a01986 (archives of\u00a0profile<\/a>, contacts<\/a>,\u00a0album<\/a>).\u00a0According to the\u00a0profile, he graduated from the military aviation technical university in 2006.<\/p>\n

\"4\"<\/a>\"6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The most interesting photo<\/a> in the album is dated 17 January 2016 features the Syrian landscape and has the corresponding geotag (Latakia, Hmeymim base):<\/p>\n

\"\u043b\u0435\u0442\u0447\u0438\u043a\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the comments below the picture, Frolov confirms that he is in Syria:<\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After\u00a0zooming\u00a0in\u00a0into\u00a0the\u00a0picture,\u00a0his\u00a0name,\u00a0military\u00a0rank\u00a0and\u00a0profession\u00a0can\u00a0be\u00a0recognized\u00a0on\u00a0his\u00a0chest\u00a0badge:<\/p>\n

\"3-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Any flight engineer is a member of a certain\u00a0flight crew and does not belong to the ordinary service personnel. Frolov is probably the crew member of an An-124 airplane (and not Il-76 plane), as seen on the picture<\/a> from his working place:<\/p>\n

\"\u043b\u0435\u0442\u0447\u0438\u043a2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Geographical coordinates of the airbase ‘Seshcha’\u00a0(53\u00b042\u201958\u2033N, 33\u00b020\u201935\u2033E) as seen on this map<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Karta-3\"<\/p>\n

Satellite snapshot of the airbase:<\/p>\n

\"10\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Until recently, there were no photo or video evidence of involvement of the 566th regiment in the Syrian operation, although audio surveillance captured several flights with ‘Syrian’ trace, where Seshcha and other main nodes of the Russian military transport network (Krymsk, Mosdok, Tolmachevo, etc) were mentioned. The results of audio surveillance are documented in the links:<\/p>\n