Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in accordance with the order of the Supreme Commander Vladimir Putin, ordered to begin withdrawal from Syria of the main part of the Russian Air Forces involved in the elimination of terrorists, the directorate of the press service and information of the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"The technical staff at the Hmeymim air base began to prepare the aircraft for the long-range flights to the Russian Federation," TASS cited the message as saying.
The aircraft will carry out flights from Khmeymim airbase to the permanent location airfields of Russia accompanied by military transport planes.
Recall, yesterday Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered the Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to begin withdrawal of the Russian Air Forces from Syria starting from March 15. He also instructed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to intensify Russia’s participation in organizing the peace process to solve the Syrian problem.
The decision on the withdrawal of troops has been agreed by the Russian authorities with the Syrian government. Putin has discussed the decision with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad in a telephone conversation. "In addition, our military, soldiers and officers demonstrated professionalism, teamwork and ability to organize combat work far from their territory, having no common borders with the theater of war," Putin said.
The President also noted that the Russian bases in Syria’s Tartus and Khmeimim are to continue operating in routine regime. "They are to be safely protected from the land, from the sea and from air," he said, adding that those servicemen who will stay in Syria will be engaged in monitoring the ceasefire regime.
The Russian president also told US President Barack Obama about his decision.
The editor-in-chief of 'National Defense' magazine, Igor Korotchenko, stressed in conversation with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza that the withdrawal of the Russian Air Forces from Syria was possible thanks to the success of the Russian military and the launch of the peace process. "Russia is sending a message to the world that it is committed to the principles of a political settlement of the Syrian conflict. It is important to note that Russia retains two key points: the Khmeymim air base and the technical support point for the Russian Navy in Tartus, so we will be able to influence the situation and to take certain military decisions if necessary," he pointed out.
According to the expert, the culmination of the military operation in Syria is the almost complete destruction of the Daesh infrastructure and the elimination of thousands of militants. "The most important thing is that Russia's military success became an incentive for the moderate Syrian opposition to sit down at the negotiating table and stop military operations. In general, Russia is not leaving Syria, it's only limiting its presence there: there are military advisors and Russian military supplies, in addition to the reduced staff of the Russian Air Forces," Igor Korotchenko noted.
A military observer of the TASS news agency, retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin, also said that the decision to withdraw the Russian Air Forces from Syria was made on the basis of the start of talks in Geneva and because the main tasks have been fulfilled. The expert drew attention to the weight of the contribution of the Russian military operation in the fight against Daesh and to the settlement of the Syrian crisis.
"Since September 30th 2015 our pilots have carried out more than 9 thousand sorties; terrorists were forced out of Latakia, the communication with Aleppo was restored, Palmyra was surrounded, battles are under way to liberate it from illegal armed groups. Most of the provinces of Hama and Homs have been cleared, three oil and gas fields in the Palmyra line were taken under control. More than 2 thousand bandits were killed in the country. Our aircraft destroyed 209 oil production facilities, as well as 2912 vehicles used in transporting petroleum products. We delivered more than 700 tons of food to besieged cities and settlements," Viktor Litovkin listed.
"Syrian troops liberated 400 settlements and more than 10 thousand square kilometers of the country's territory with the support of our pilots. This is a concrete result of our operation," the military observer added.
In addition, Russia's contacts with the US-led coalition fundamentally changed. "If at the beginning of our operation the US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter flatly refused to cooperate with our military, now this cooperation has become a reality. All this means that the Americans understand that Russia is a formidable military force," Viktor Litovkin stressed.
