A Russian soldier rides on an infantry fighting vehicle part of a Russian military convoy heads towards Hmeimim air base in Syria's coastal Latakia, Syria, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
TARTOUS, Syria (Reuters) - Russia is pulling back its military from the front lines in northern Syria and from posts in the Alawite Mountains but is not leaving its two main bases in the country after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, four Syrian officials told Reuters.
The ousting of Assad, who along with his late father, former President Hafez al-Assad, had forged a close alliance with Moscow, has thrown the future of Russia's bases - the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia and the Tartous naval facility - into question.
