Russia prepares to evacuate its bases from Syria completely

According to German military analysts, Russia is making all necessary preparations to evacuate its military bases from Syria completely.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by press service of the President of Russia, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Vladimir Putin in Khmeimim Air Base in Syria (2017-12-11) 01

Russia's Mediterranean forces have already left the Syrian port of Tartus, a memo from the German Defense Ministry said.

The security guarantees for Russian troops received from Syria's new rulers after the fall of Bashar al-Assad most likely apply only to the withdrawal of Russian troops, rather than to their permanent deployment, the German Defence Ministry also said.

On December 13, a large column of the Russian Armed Forces moved out of Homs, presumably in the direction of Tartus.

Several Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft landed at Russia's Khmeimim airbase in Syria in Latakia province," Free Syria News Network (FSNN) correspondents report.

Russia is close to reaching an agreement with new Syrian leadership to keep two bases in the country, Bloomberg reports.

Meanwhile, Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group explained to his enemies: "Our enemy is Hezbollah. Russia and Iran are colonizers too. We have no intention to come into conflict with Israel, we cannot open a new front."