MOSCOW – A second batch of Russian fighter jets departed on Wednesday from Syria’s Hmeimim airbase to permanent deployment bases in Russia, as part of the withdrawal from the Arabic country ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
“Another group of Russian aircraft took off from the airbase in Hmeimim heading to places of permanent deployment on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the military said in a statement, according to local media outlets.
The withdrawal of Russian military personnel, which began on Monday, is being completed in batches, with the warplanes returning separately to their home bases.
“I think that the tasks of Defense Ministry have been fulfilled. That is why I ordered our military group to begin withdrawing from Syria starting tomorrow,” Putin said on Monday during a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as quoted by state-run news agency TASS.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin has discussed and coordinated the decision to withdraw Russian forces with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.
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