How a secret Russian airlift is helping Syria skirt US sanctions

Thomson Reuters

• Russia has created a secret airlift using civilian planes to ferry military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian Civil War, which has entered its sixth year.
• The flights almost always land late at night and don't appear in any airport or airline timetables.
• The operation — which both Russia and Syria have denied — lays bare the gaps in the US sanctions, which are designed to starve Assad and his allies of what they need to wage their campaign.

---

MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - In a corner of the departures area at Rostov airport in southern Russia, a group of about 130 men, many of them carrying overstuffed military-style rucksacks, lined up at four check-in desks beneath screens that showed no flight number or destination.

When a Reuters reporter asked the men about their destination, one said: "We signed a piece of paper – we're not allowed to say anything. Any minute the boss will come and we'll get into trouble.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: Neo-Nazi groups let a journalist in their meetings and rallies — here's what he saw

See Also:

• How Russian mercenaries use secret flights to travel to Syria
• 2 speeches happening at the same time across Washington show how deep the Trump administration is divided on Syria
• Video shows Russia's first mail drone embarrassingly, catastrophically failing moments after takeoff

SEE ALSO: 'Putin will be pissed off': The US's latest round of sanctions hit Russia where it hurts