Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) has said on Sunday that Moscow has started to withdraw their warships and other military assets from Syria as Bashar al-Assad has been toppled and fled the country.
Rebels have taken over the Syrian capital Damascus, Latakia, Hama and Tartus where Russian military bases are based, the HUR confirmed.
Two warships, the frigate “Admiral Grygorovych” and the cargo ship “Inzhenier Trubin,” fled the Tartus Naval Base which is Vladimir Putin’s only base in the Mediterranean Sea and was provided to Moscow as part of a security agreement with the Assad regime, the Kyiv Independent reports.
Russian military cargo planes are transferring vast amounts of weapons from the Khmeimim Air Base and will most likely be used in Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Ukraine‘s military intelligence agency said that this will be a major blow for Putin losing the Tartus and the Khmeimim Air Base meaning the Kremlin will now have no military assets in the Middle East.
In 2016 Putin was awarded the military bases by Assad as Russia played a major role in capturing Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo which gave the Assad regime political gains.
A Middle East expert at Chatham House, Neil Quilliam told the media outlet, “Syria represents Moscow’s only military foothold in the Mediterranean.”
On Saturday, a prominent Russian milblogger Rybar, with more than 1.3 million Telegram followers warned, “We must acknowledge the reality — the insurgents will not stop.
“Their objective is to inflict maximum losses — both reputational and physical — on the Russian Federation’s representatives in Syria, with a particular focus on destroying our military bases.”
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