MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russian operation is Syria that has lasted for already a year helped the country survive and keep united, without falling in the arms of terrorists, leader of Moscow-Cairo-Astana opposition platform Qadri Jamil told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"The role of Russia has been decisive. It prevented the country from falling apart. We were close to falling in the arms of Daesh. It was a historic step," Jamil said.
Russia launched airstrikes against terrorist positions in Syria on September 30, 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Since that time and until March 2016, Russian aviation had conducted over 9,000 strikes against the terrorist group outlawed in Russia, helping Damascus launch offensives in key regions of the country.
"There would be no Syrian state [without the Russian involvement]… And Russia itself would have had problems, as Syria could have turned into a foothold for terrorists. This year [of the Russian involvement] has been very positive. We hope this involvement will end up with a full victory over terrorism," Jamil added.