Syria. What about Russian bases after the fall of the regime?

The overthrow of Assad, who had entered into a close alliance with Moscow, called into question the future of Russian bases: the Humayim air base in Latakia province and the naval base in the city of Tartus in the province of the same name, Reuters emphasizes.

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The agency reported – citing Syrian sources in contact with Moscow – that Russia withdraws its troops from the front lines in the north Syria and posts in the Jabal al-Nusayriya mountains in the west, but it does not abandon both of its most important bases. In addition to soldiers, the Russians are to withdraw heavy equipment and senior Syrian officers. The aim of these activities is to be regrouping dictated by the development of the situation in the country.

Satellite footage from Friday showed at least two An-124 planes, some of the world's largest cargo planes, at the Humayim base apparently preparing to load. At least one of them flew on Saturday to Libya – a representative of the Syrian authorities responsible for supervising the base told Reuters.

A senior official close to the new interim government in Syria told Reuters that the issue of the presence of Russian troops in Syria and previous agreements between Assad's government and Russia are not under discussion.

“This is a matter of future talks and the final decision will rest with the Syrian people,” the official said. – Our forces are now also in close proximity to Russian bases in Latakia – he added.

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The Kremlin has announced in recent days that Russia is in talks with the new Syrian authorities regarding the bases.

For now, it is not known what the leader of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – Ahmed Husein al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Muhamad al-Jaulani – has on the long-term functioning of Russian military bases in Syria.

The BBC reported on Wednesday that some military ships had left the Russian naval base in Tartus. This base was established on the basis of an agreement signed by the Soviet Union with the then leader of Syria, Hafez al-Assad (the father of Bashar al-Assad) in 1971 – still during the Cold War, when the USSR Navy was forced to leave its bases in Egypt.

As a result of a lightning offensive that lasted only 11 days, the rebel coalition led by HTS overthrew the government of Assad, who fled to Russia with his family, where he received political asylum.