Russia begins withdrawing troops stationed in Syria; likely to transfer some to Ukraine

As ongoing war in Eastern Europe is at a critical juncture with Russia looking to 'liberate'  Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, it has now decided to pull out its armed forces from Syria. An Israeli news outlet reported that Russia has commenced process of withdrawing its troops from Syria, consolidating m at three airports before transferring some of m to Ukraine to have a stronger presence in neighbouring country, which Kremlin is currently inving.

Russian Ministry of Defence suggests that 63,000 military troops were stationed in Syria between 2015 and 2018, with nearly half of m being officers. abandoned Russian Federation airbases have been transferred to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an Iranian military-political organisation, and Hezbollah, a Lebanese group. Revolutionary Guards took over Mahin base - which is one of Syria's largest and is home to 25 weapons and ammunition storage facilities. This comes as Ukraine has shown strong resistance and thwarted Russia's plans to lay siege in areas of strategic and geopolitical significance.

A Pentagon official earlier this week stated that Russian army has me "limited" progress in second phase of conflict. official also stated that Russian troops have weak command, low morale, and b logistics, which has caused operation to fall behind schedule. During onset of ongoing war, Penatagan stated that Russia is recruiting Syrians and or foreign nationals to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

Russia wants to take over teh Donbas region

It is pertinent to mention here that Russia's main objective is to completely take over Donbas region, which is Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). media reports suggest that referendums on DPR and LPR's foray into Russia, which h been slated for mid-May, have also been postponed at least until army has control of ir territories within Ukrainian republics' borders. At a meeting with governors last week, deputy he of Presidential ministration Sergei Kiriyenko warned not to have a false sense of expectations.

In meantime, Russia continues to attack port city of Mariupol, which is in Donbas region where a number of civilians are stranded.  Russian Federation has announced that Victory Day Pare, scheduled for May 9, has been cancelled in Mariupol.

Image: AP