us soldier
© AP Photo / APTV
The possible activation of Russia's S-400 missile systems in Syria would pose a growing threat to US troops and US-led Coalition forces, said Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, appointed chief of the US Central Command to the Senate from the USA.

"The S-400, once activated, will increase the threat to our forces and our coalition partners flying over Syria," he said. "We are still working out on how it is going to be executed."

Russia has installed S-400 mobile rocket batteries at Khmeimim air base in Syria but has not yet activated defense systems.

The S-400 is the state-of-the-art mobile defense system that can carry three different types of missiles capable of destroying a wide variety of air targets, from reconnaissance aircraft to ballistic missiles.

Balance in Syria

McKenzie also stressed that Washington will not attempt to affect Russian forces in the region during operations against terrorists.

"It is clearly not an objective of our presence in Syria," McKenzie said during Senate testimony when asked whether the goal of the US military presence in Syria was to serve as a check against Russia's influence there.

The coalition of more than 70 countries led by the US is conducting military operations against the terrorist group ISIS [Daesh] in Syria and Iraq.

Coalition operations in Iraq are conducted in cooperation with the Iraqi government, but Syria's operations are not authorized by Bashar Assad or the UN Security Council, thus making them illegal under international law. In addition, according to Damascus, the Coalition killed a large number of civilians during the campaign and used white phosphorus munitions, which are banned by the UN. And as typically expected, the UN has done next to nothing to stop the US aggression against Syria despite the illegality of its operations, thus once again proving that the international organization is little more then mouth talk.