‘Syria Very Clearly Put Russia In Its Place With This Gesture’

The Russian military will have to leave not only Tartus.

The Syrian Defense Ministry has denied Russian military access to the naval base in Tartus. A column of 30 Russian trucks with missile weapons, which set out from the Khmeimim airbase, was stopped by Syrian military personnel subordinate to the new government.

What will the loss of the Tartus base mean for the Russians? Charter97.org spoke with Ukrainian political scientist Volodymyr Tsybulko about this:

— Firstly, this is a gesture that indicates the place of the Russian military in Syria. After all, everyone understands perfectly well that for the bombing of civilians, Russia will have to compensate the Syrian people for all the losses inflicted during the period of cooperation with the Assad regime. In this sense, the Syrian government has demonstrated the place of Russian troops, where they are allowed to be.

The Tartus naval base is obviously being closed down, and a special corridor will most likely be organized for the movement of ground units. I think that the Russians wanted to remove the most secret equipment from the airfield through Tartus, and probably some important military personnel. But the Syrian authorities warned Russia that it must hand over Assad and must think about compensating for the damage caused to Syria, including compensation for the families of the victims. Russia was very clearly put in its place with this gesture.

By the way, Turkey, which is now preparing troops for the new Syrian government, itself followed the Russian formations. In my opinion, a Turkish troop base is now being created in Chad, and it turns out that the troops that will be withdrawn under Marshal Haftar to Libya will end up under the strict control of the Turks from bases neighboring Libya, located in neighboring countries.

— Syria demands that Moscow hand over fugitive dictator Bashar al-Assad in exchange for bases. Will the Kremlin take such a step?

— I think that the question here concerns the prospects of the entire African corps, because the bases in Syria were, in fact, the basis of logistics for Russian troops in Africa. “Wagner” was relocated after Prigozhin's uprising, in fact, the remnants of this PMC were repurposed and moved to Africa.

There, in the Sahel zone, they have already been seen as punitive forces. By the way, there are now many legends about how the Tuaregs defeated part of the Russian African corps in Mali, and all signs indicate that Ukrainian military intelligence was working there.

For the Russian African corps, in my opinion, an interesting moment is beginning now. If before this, French troops and, I think, Ukrainian military intelligence acted against them, now it turns out that the units that are being withdrawn from Syria to Libya are falling under the strict control of Turkish troops.

An interesting triangle is being created -— France, Turkey and Ukrainian intelligence. This is a new reality for the Russian African corps, and it is, rather, a hint that no one will need Tartus anymore, because Russia will have to get out not only from Syria, but also from Africa.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail [email protected]