BBC: Russia Has Major Problems With Evacuation From Syria

The Kremlin will have to negotiate with Turkey.

It will not be easy for Russia to evacuate its military personnel, as well as a large amount of weapons and equipment deployed in different parts of the country, from Syria, where the regime of Bashar Assad has fallen.

A large Russian military contingent remains in Syria — at the beginning of 2024, its number, according to indirect evidence, was about 7.5 thousand people, writes the BBC.

“In 2017, Moscow and Damascus signed an agreement on the use of bases in Tartus and Khmeimim for a period of 49 years — until 2066. However, now it is difficult to say whether Russia will retain them at all,” the journalists note, adding that the Russian leadership has also made it clear that there are no plans to use them and their fate is to be discussed with the new authorities in Damascus.

At the same time, the bases in Tartus and Khmeimim are not the only facilities where Russian military personnel are present. Journalists also emphasize that if the information previously published in the media is confirmed and the Russian command has contacted the Turkish command to agree on assistance in withdrawing troops, this will help evacuate Russian troops from remote areas of Syria, but not from all of them. In some areas where there are Russian troops, there is no Turkish presence at all.

“In order to withdraw troops to Tartus or Khmeimim, from where they could then be evacuated to Russia, it will be necessary to negotiate with a wide variety of forces,” the publication says.

Evacuating the Russian military contingent directly from Syria will also not be easy — in addition to 7.5 thousand people, it includes a large number of weapons and military equipment, including armored vehicles and anti-aircraft missile systems. If the Russian Federation begins an urgent evacuation from Khmeimimi, this may require hundreds of An-124 and Il-76 flights in a very short time.

The water route via the naval base in Tartus is no simpler either — ships will not be able to pass through the Turkish Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits into the Black Sea. After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the straits were closed by Turkey to the passage of the warring country’s ships.

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