Russia has begun withdrawing units from the Qamishli airfield in northeastern Syria, where its forces had been present since 2019. Reuters reported this on January 26, citing five sources. According to them, the evacuation started last week: some personnel are to be redeployed to the Hmeimim air base, while others will return to Russia.
A source in the Syrian security services told Reuters that Russian military equipment and heavy weapons had already been sent from Qamishli to Hmeimim in recent days. On January 26, a Reuters reporter saw Russian flags and two aircraft bearing Russian markings at the airport. Kurdistan24 and Al-Monitor also reported that the Russian presence was being reduced. Russia’s Defense Ministry had not issued an official comment at the time of publication.
Journalists’ observations support those reports. Associated Press correspondents visited one of the Russian bases near the airport and found that it was already being guarded by fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces. According to SDF members, Russian troops had been removing equipment for several days, and the living quarters were mostly empty. Some belongings had been left behind, including sports gear, protein packages and clothing.
One SDF fighter told AP that the evacuation had begun five or six days earlier and that equipment was being flown out by cargo plane. He added that it was unclear whether it was being sent to Russia or to Hmeimim, and stressed that the Russian presence in Qamishli had not yet ended completely but was being scaled down gradually.
Al-Monitor published similar footage. A reporter for the outlet filmed what was described as the grounds of an abandoned Russian base; according to her, the troops had left two days before the recording. The video shows discarded items and Russian flags still flying above a communications tower.
Earlier, Kommersant reported that Syria’s transitional authorities wanted to discuss the status of the base with Moscow after the expected transfer of Hasakah province to central government control. A Syrian source told the newspaper that Damascus would likely then raise the question of whether any further Russian military presence in Qamishli was justified. Military analysts Ilya Barabanov and David Sharp told Novaya Gazeta Europe that Russia’s contingent in Syria had shrunk markedly after the change of power in Damascus, and that the bases at Hmeimim and Tartus may now serve primarily logistical functions.