Weather conditions in Syria are perfect for a Russian bombing campaign, a state television presenter told the nation on Saturday.
“If we're thinking about the weather, the timing of the air campaign was very well chosen,” the presenter of a weather report on the state-owned Rossia-24 news channel said, four days after Russia began its intervention in Syria's civil war.
With aerial footage of explosions and pictures of bombed out buildings as a backdrop, the presenter explained that “October is Syria is generally a favorable month for flying,” with clear skies, low wind speeds, and infrequent rainfall.
Going into detail, the report gave the average number of clear days in Syria in October and the optimal height for military jets to fly during their sorties — 3 to 5 kilometers. Rain comes once every 10 days, the presenter said, and mostly in Syria's northern regions, where Russia is flying many of its bombing raids. But “this can't seriously impact Russian bombardments,” she added.
Russian warplanes began striking targets in Syria on Wednesday. Moscow has said it is targeting the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, but Western leaders have claimed that Russia is defending the interests of Syrian President Bashar Assad, a long-standing ally of the Kremlin.
Russia's state-controlled media have given extensive positive coverage to the Syria intervention.
The Rossia-24 presenter said the only real threat to Russian air strikes in October was sand storms that could delay missions. But, she warned, the clouds will thicken in November.
