““Russia continues to withdraw its contingent from remote areas of Syria. At the same time, on some routes, the Russians are accompanied by armed groups opposed to the Assad regime.””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
It is noted that “Russia continues to withdraw its contingent from remote areas of Syria. At the same time, armed groups opposed to the Assad regime accompany the Russians on some routes.”
“Among Russian soldiers, there are rumors that Moscow has agreed to maintain its presence at the Syrian bases in Tartus and Khmeimim – we are talking about the number of up to three thousand military personnel. Problems with drinking water and food have been recorded at the specified bases, as well as on Russian ships in the region,” the intelligence press service notes.
The GUR also added that “the remnants of the Russian group are waiting for the military transport planes involved in the evacuation, which are to deliver food. So, on December 14, flights of two An-124-100 and two Il-76MD from Chkalovsk to Khmeimim were planned.”
The editorial staff of RFE/RL is currently unable to verify this data from open sources. The Russian authorities did not comment on this information.
On December 13, the correspondent of the British newspaper The Times in Syria, Samer Al-Atrush, published a video of Russian equipment arriving at the Khmeimim air base. He also spoke with armed men guarding the main entrance to the base and belonging to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which played a crucial role in the overthrow of the Assad regime. The guards of the base told the journalist that, according to their information, Russia was withdrawing its troops from the country.
Previously, data from open sources made it possible to establish that Russia sent several amphibious ships and civilian vessels to Syria. “With commercial vessels and Russian amphibious ships on the approach, with increased air traffic at the Khmeimim base, the withdrawal of Russian troops is gathering momentum. It is not yet clear whether it will be complete or partial,” Dara Massikot, a senior researcher at the Russia and Eurasia Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes on the X network.
According to satellite images from December 13, the Khmeimim air base has a record number of aircraft in recent days, including two An-124 “Ruslan”, one of which was parked on the runway. The landing of one of the Il-76 planes was also caught on video.
A December 13 satellite image of the Russian Navy base in Tartus shows that the Russian frigates based there have not yet returned to their docks.
Earlier it was reported that Russia is negotiating with the rebels about keeping bases in Syria. Bloomberg, citing sources in Moscow, Europe and the Middle East, wrote that the parties are close to an agreement.
Since 2011, there has been a civil war in Syria. The Russian military has been participating in this war since 2015 on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, bombarding the positions of his opponents, as well as participating in ground operations, which involved mercenaries from the Wagner PMC group. The official goal was the fight against terrorist groups.
In Syria, the Russians have a naval base in Tartus and an air base in Latakia. Their further fate is still unclear.
On December 8, the day Assad’s opponents occupied Damascus, Russian authorities announced that the ousted president and his family were in Russia, where they had been granted asylum.