The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the beginning of the withdrawal of some staff from the Russian embassy in Damascus, with a special flight of the Russian Air Force that took off from the Hmeimim airbase in Syria. On board this plane were also members of the diplomatic missions of Belarus, North Korea, and Abkhazia.
According to military and security sources, Moscow is also continuing the exfiltration of high-ranking Syrian and Algerian officers involved in the repression of Syrian populations.
Meanwhile, a group of Polisario terrorists, engaged in supporting the military activities of the Syrian regime, has been evacuated to Iran as part of a secret operation. According to witnesses, this evacuation was carried out to strengthen the ties between Tehran and armed groups supported by Iran in the region, while reorganizing the Polisario mercenaries for future activities in North Africa.
Since September 2015, Russia has deployed a military contingent of over 7,500 soldiers in Syrian territory to support Bashar al-Assad’s regime against rebel forces. However, after Bashar’s downfall, Russia began withdrawing its troops from the frontlines in the northern part of the country and from positions in the Alawite mountains. The two main Russian military bases in Syria, the Hmeimim airbase, located about 20 km southeast of Latakia, and the Tartous naval base, are of strategic importance to the Kremlin.
The Tartous site is crucial for Russia as its only direct access to the Mediterranean Sea, allowing for naval exercises, the stationing of warships, and the hosting of nuclear submarines. Satellite images taken on December 9 showed three ships from Russia’s Mediterranean fleet, including two missile frigates and a tanker, docked about 13 kilometers northwest of Tartous.
Recent satellite images also revealed the presence of two Antonov An-124s, among the largest cargo planes in the world, at the Hmeimim airbase. On December 16, one of the planes took off for the al-Khadim airbase in Libya. According to a Syrian security official, the plane was carrying military equipment, Russians, and Algerian military personnel.
Western analysts and intelligence services believe that Russia is conducting a large-scale withdrawal from Syria, although Moscow has yet to confirm this information.
Obeida Arnaout, spokesperson for the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group, has described the recent Russian maneuvers as ambiguous. He emphasized that the withdrawal of Russian ships from ports and the movement of military vehicles do not definitively indicate whether the Kremlin is truly withdrawing, or if these actions are merely part of its regular rotations.