Russia pulls hundreds of soldiers out of Damaskus – Financial Times
After negotiations with the new Syrian leadership, Russia withdrew at least 400 soldiers from the Damascus region. A representative of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said that negotiations are underway to evacuate more soldiers across Syria.
Source: Financial Times (FT)
Quote from the FT: "Russia has evacuated at least 400 soldiers from the Damascus region in recent days in co-ordination with the main rebel faction that toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime, an official from the group said."
Details: According to Kamal Lababidi, a member of the political bureau of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Russian soldiers had been stationed at the headquarters of the Fourth Division of the Syrian Army in Qudsayya, a suburb of the capital.
Russian soldiers stationed at the embassy in Damascus also left Syria over the past week.
According to Lababidi, negotiations are underway to evacuate more soldiers across the country.
The future of the Russian presence in Syria is unclear, the FT reported. Moscow has provided troops to support Assad, but the withdrawal from Damascus is a sign that it is winding down its presence in Syria.
This week, Lababidi said, Russian military envoys met with representatives of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to negotiate the safe passage of the convoy. He said that the "Russians came by but only for co-ordination for the retreat of bases."
He also said that the Russians left Damascus in a convoy by land to Moscow’s Khmeimim airbase in northwestern Syria. From there, planes took the soldiers back to Russia.
A video provided by the FT shows a convoy of around 100 pieces of military equipment, including armoured vehicles, tractors, fuel tankers, mobile medical units and others, leaving the Damascus area.
While there are no plans to close the Russian embassy in Syria, Lababidi said a Russian official had informed him of a reduction in diplomatic activity.
Background:
- The Assad regime had held power in Syria for 24 years and collapsed after a 12-day offensive by rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or the Levant Liberation Organisation, ended with the capture of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on 8 December.
- The Institute for the Study of War said that the loss of military bases in Syria could seriously undermine the Kremlin's ability to conduct operations in Africa. It would weaken Russia's position in Libya and sub-Saharan Africa and call into question its influence over African authoritarian regimes.
- Kremlin-aligned Russian news media TASS and RIA Novosti reported on 8 December that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family were in Moscow and Russia had granted them asylum.
- On 10 December, Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said that the Russians had used ships and military transport aircraft to take the remaining troops, weapons and equipment from Syria to Russia.
- On 12 December, Bloomberg reported that Russia was nearing an agreement with Syria's new leadership to retain its bases at the naval port of Tartus and the Khmeimim airbase.
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