Russian military has begun large-scale withdrawal from Syria, US and Western officials say

CNN
 — 

Russia has begun withdrawing a large amount of military equipment and troops from Syria following the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, according to two US officials and a western official familiar with the intelligence.

The officials characterized the Russian withdrawal as large-scale and significant and said it began last week, but it is not clear whether it will be permanent, the officials noted.

US and western intelligence suggests that Russian officials have been trying to determine whether Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), the main rebel group now in charge of Syria, is open to a negotiated settlement of some kind that would allow Russia to remain in some of its key bases, the sources all said. Those bases include Russia’s Khmeimim airbase in Latakia and a port facility at Tartus.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a press briefing last week that Russia is in touch with the rebels in Damascus.

“We must maintain contact with those who are controlling the situation on the ground because, as I mentioned, we have facilities and personnel there,” he said.

Two of the US officials said that the Russians have begun moving naval assets from Syria to Libya, and a separate defense official said Moscow has increased pressure on Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar to secure Russia’s claim to a port in Benghazi.

Without a Libyan port, and if they are forced to abandon Tartus in Syria, the Russians would be left without a Mediterranean sea port to project power on NATO’s southern flank, the official said. The loss of Tartus, even temporarily, will also make it harder for Russia to move illicit materials between Russia and Africa, the defense official said.

CNN reported last week that Russia appeared to be loading and preparing aircraft to leave its military bases in Syria, according to satellite images collected by Maxar on Friday morning.

At Khmeimim airbase, two AN-124 heavy military transport planes were present at the airfield on Friday, both with their nose cones lifted indicating they were prepared to load cargo. At the same airbase, a Ka-52 attack helicopter was being dismantled, likely preparing for transport. Parts of an S-400 air defense unit — a Russian surface-to-air missile system — could also be seen getting packed up.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that he could not comment on a Russian withdrawal. Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder said on Monday, however, that the US has been able to operate more freely in Syria to conduct anti-ISIS operations because Russian air defense systems, which could pose a risk to US aircraft, are no longer being employed inside the country.

US Central Command forces have conducted several rounds of airstrikes targeting ISIS camps and operatives in Syria since Assad’s ouster earlier this month, including a round of strikes on Monday.

“One of the big factors that has changed in Syria is the airspace, in the sense that previously you had Syrian regime and Russian air defenses, which would preclude in many cases our ability or desirability to go into those areas” to conduct anti-ISIS operations, Ryder told reporters. “It is a much more permissible environment now, in that regard.”