Russia is withdrawing hundreds of troops from Damascus after taking control of the rebels

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Russia has moved about 400 troops into the Damascus area in recent days in cooperation with the main terrorist group that overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the group’s commander said.

The soldiers were stationed at the well-known military headquarters of the Syrian Army in Qudsayya, a suburb of the capital, Kamal Lababidi, a member of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham political organization, told the Financial Times in an interview.

Russian troops stationed at the embassy in Damascus also left last week and negotiations are ongoing to move more troops across the country, said Lababidi, who uses a pseudonym that has long been known.

The future of Russia’s presence in rebel-held Syria is uncertain. Moscow provided troops to support its ally Assad during the civil war, but the withdrawal from Damascus is the latest sign that it is reducing its presence.

The transfer also marks the first signs of cooperation between Moscow and HTS after years of fighting on opposite sides of the brutal conflict.

A Russian military delegation met with HTS at the rebel headquarters at the Four Seasons hotel in Damascus this week to discuss a safe passage for the convoy, said Lababidi, who discussed returning to Syria.

“The Russians came only to agree to return,” said Lababidi.

He added that the Russians had left Damascus on their way to Moscow’s Hmeimim airport in northwest Syria. From there, planes flew the soldiers back to Russia.

About 100 military vehicles were seen leaving the Damascus area – including armored vehicles, tractors, fuel tanks, mobile units among others – in a video provided to the FT.

Although there are no plans to close the embassy, ​​Lababidi said the Russian government official told him that they would reduce diplomatic services.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it had evacuated some workers from Damascus, as well as workers in the city from North Korea, Belarus, and Abkhazia, the Caucasus refugee enclave whose independence from Georgia is recognized by five countries.

The ministry said “the work of the Russian embassy in Damascus continues” without elaborating, according to Ria Novosti.

Russia has intervened in the civil war since 2015, sending thousands of troops and air support to keep the conflict aligned with Assad until the rebels erupted this month. Assad fled to Moscow.

Russia says its future in Syria will depend on negotiations with the new government in Damascus. During the offensive, HTS expressed its willingness to work with Moscow, saying that the two could find common ground in rebuilding the country.

Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, said this week that Russia had “encouraging” talks with HTS and hoped to maintain the basis of the “war on terrorism”.

Losing Hmeimim and Moscow’s naval base at Tartus would be a major problem as the two sites are used as a base for Russian operations in the Mediterranean and throughout Africa.

In return for keeping the base, experts have said that Russia could provide the Syrian government with money, energy or minerals and political support.

Hmeimim’s satellite imaging showed a recent increase in ground vehicles, the arrival of large military aircraft and the disruption of Russian helicopters and air defense – all things related to the dismissal.

When asked about the future of the base, Lababidi said that Russia is not leaving Hmeimim but is evacuating the workers from other places to it.

Several prominent Syrian families close to the Assad regime have been hiding in the Russian embassy in Damascus under Moscow’s protection since the government fell last week, three people with direct knowledge told the FT.

Several HTS fighters guarding the embassy grounds on Sunday said they were stationed there to protect people inside the embassy and were not preventing them from moving.

Russian embassy staff sometimes asked them to accompany them and act as bodyguards when they went on errands, the activists said. Cars were leaving the place to buy groceries and go to the doctors.

But Lababidi said Moscow was instructed by the new Syrian government not to support the Syrians leaving the country.