After the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia is allegedly withdrawing its presence from the country this week, including at the Hmeimim air base and the naval base in Tartus.
Satellite images show Russian cargo planes at the Hmeimim airfield with their nose cones open, evidently preparing to transport heavy military equipment out of Syria. The Tartus naval base, Russia’s only warm-water naval base providing direct access to the Mediterranean Sea, has been pivotal to Moscow’s imvolvement in the Middle East.
Russia’s involvement in Syria since 2015 has been marked by a significant military intervention that turned the tide of the civil war in Assad’s favor. However, with Assad’s fall, the Kremlin finds itself at a crossroads. Discussions are reportedly underway with the new Syrian leadership to negotiate the status of these bases, but no final agreements have been confirmed yet.
