GUR: Russia withdraws its contingent from Syria

Due to the overthrow of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, supported by Tehran and Moscow, Russia is withdrawing its contingent from the country.

This was reported by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine.

The Russian army withdrew its warships from the naval base in Tartus, which Assad gave to the Russian Federation as payment for the protection of his regime. On December 8, the frigate "Admiral Grigorievich" of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation and the cargo ship "Engineer Trubin" of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation left Tartus for the Mediterranean Sea on December 8.

Also, the Russians are transferring the remnants of their weapons and military equipment from Syria by military aircraft from the airbase in Khmeimim.

Syrian rebels have established control over the capital Damascus and are continuing their offensive in the provinces of Latakia, Hama and Tartus. Opposition forces are moving to the coast, so Russia may lose military bases there.

What preceded

Active clashes between the rebels and Syrian troops began on November 27. The offensive was launched by the Syrian Revolutionary Forces in "response to months of continuous attacks on civilians" by the Assad regime in Aleppo province. It was the heaviest fighting in northwest Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters. It is also the largest attack by opposition fighters on the city since they were pushed out of the eastern districts in 2016.

On December 1, the media reported that the Assadʼs Forces had lost control of Aleppo for the first time since the beginning of the military conflict that began more than a decade ago. Later, it became known that the Assad regime had lost the city of Hama, the fifth largest city in the country.

The Ukrainian intelligence (known as GUR) says that Russian troops are suffering losses during the fighting in Syria. Against this background, the Russian Federation changed the commander of forces in the region — he became General Oleksandr Chaiko, who commanded a group of Russian troops in Syria in 2017-2019. GUR noted that it currently knows about "hundreds" of Russians who are considered missing there.

As of December 8, the Syrian opposition is already in the capital Damascus. The countryʼs prime minister is preparing to hand over the functions of the transitional government to it.

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