Russia appears to be organizing military equipment at a military air base in Syria to leave the country, according to satellite images released by Maxar following the rebels’ seizure of power and the fall of Bashar al-Assad last weekend.
The images show what appear to be at least two Antonov AN-124s, one of the world’s largest cargo planes, at Hmeimim air base in the coastal city of Latakia.
The Russian naval base in Tartous, Russia’s only repair and resupply center in the Mediterranean, “remains largely unchanged as seen in images from December 10,” according to Maxar.
British television network Channel 4 reported seeing a convoy of more than 150 Russian military vehicles moving along a road. Channel 4 added that the Russian military was “in good order” and that a deal appeared to have been reached to allow the Russians to leave.
The Kremlin has stated that Russia’s focus since the fall of Assad has been to ensure the security of its diplomatic missions.
Understand the conflict in Syria
The Assad family regime was overthrown in Syria when rebel groups took over the capital Damascus.
The president is in Moscow after gaining asylum, according to a source in Russia.
the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.
The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.
Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.
Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”
Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to combat the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.
After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.
