Russia pulled its troops and equipment on Tuesday from an airport in northeast Syria, with reports saying the site was stripped of Russian flags and aircraft that had been visible a day earlier.
The departure comes as the terrorist PKK's Syrian offshoot, YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who once controlled swathes of territory in the country's north and east, have withdrawn in the face of military pressure, as the country's new authorities seek to extend control across the country.
Russian forces, which backed dictator Bashar Assad until his ouster in 2024, took over the Qamishli airport as a military base in November 2019 following a large-scale Turkish counterterrorism operation against the YPG.
A Syrian military official in Hassakeh province in the country's northeast told AFP that "Russian forces are withdrawing heavy equipment and weapons from Qamishli airport via aircraft to the Hemeimeem base," Russia's airbase on the Mediterranean coast.
An AFP correspondent saw a cargo plane bearing the Russian flag taking off from the airport in the city earlier on Tuesday.
