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Media: Elections Stats Disclosed Russia’s Manpower in Syria

Rubric: Russia, Conflicts, Politics

Statistics by the Russian Central Electoral Commission on recent parliamentary elections implicitly gives an insight into amount of Russian military servicemen deployed in Syria. Almost 4,400 voting ballots were in the portable box apparently related to the Khmeimim Airbase, reports RBC on Wednesday, Sept 22.

The polling station arranged in Syria is attached to the elective committee of the Altai Territory, Russia. According to its website, 4,571 Russian citizens voted in Syria. 193 ballot papers were handed out in Damascus, the rest 4,378 were in that portable voting box.

An airbase

Nikolai Pankov, Russia’s deputy defense minister, said on the Election Day that all servicemen deployed in Syria had voted. "Vasily Likhachev, a member of the Central Electoral Commission, traveled to Syria and arranged everything on site to make sure every soldier had an opportunity to vote", said the General.

Amount of military personnel deployed in Syria is a Russia’s state secret. However, the experts interviewed by RBC suppose that the mentioned ballot box is related to the Khmeimim base.

Almost 63% of Russians in Syria voted for the United Russia party, which is 8% higher than a national average.