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.
Russia has evacuated some staff from its diplomatic missions in Damascus, as well as personnel from the embassies of Belarus, North Korea, and Abkhazia, according to the Foreign Ministry’s Crisis Management Center.
Russia is moving a large amount of military equipment in Syria, signalling preparations for a partial withdrawal, analysts say. Satellite images reveal a build-up of military vehicles at a Russian-controlled port and airbase in western Syria. Transport aircraft also appear to have arrived and departed the country in recent days.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also rejected media reports suggesting Bashar al-Assad had been confined to Moscow and had assets frozen.
The rapid downfall of Syrian leader Bashar Assad has touched off a new round of delicate geopolitical maneuvering between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Russia has evacuated at least 400 soldiers from the Damascus region in recent days in co-ordination with ...
After the fall of the Assad regime, Russian cargo planes flew equipment from Syria to bases Moscow controls in eastern Libya, according to U.S. and Libyan officials.
Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad says he had no plans to leave the country after the fall of Damascus a week ago but the Russian military evacuated him after their base in western Syria came under attack.
Satellite images reveal military movements that could be a possible prelude to Moscow’s withdrawal. An American found in Damascus this week was handed over to U.S. forces.
Losing Syrian military bases would hurt the Kremlin’s attempts to project power in the Middle East and Africa.
In a post on the official Facebook page of the Syrian presidency, Assad said he was releasing the statement to address "misinformation and narratives far removed from the truth" in the wake of his overthrow.
Russia, a longstanding ally of Assad, granted the ousted Syrian leader asylum last weekend after helping him to flee his country as the rebels approached Damascus. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has ...