Kremlin Intends Expanding Military Bases in Syria

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The Russian side is asking Damascus for additional real property and water zone to expand and improve the naval base in Tartus and the air base in Hmeimim. The Kremlin intends to expand Russia's military infrastructure in Syria. The upcoming agreement on Damascus transferring additional assets to Moscow is mentioned in the President of Russia Vladimir Putin’s decree, published on Friday, May 29, on the Official Internet portal of legal information. As from the decree, to "deploy the aviation group of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic," the Russian side asks to provide it "additional real property and water zone." The Russian Ministry of Defense, together with the Russian Foreign Ministry were instructed to hold talks with the Syrian side and sign the necessary protocol. Where are the Russian military bases located in Syria Currently, the Russian armed forces use several permanent bases in Syria. By the start of the Russian military operation in Syria in September 2015, a separate aviation group of the Russian Aerospace Forces was deployed to the Hmeimim air base. Along with it, a naval base in Tartus is located 30 kilometers from the border with Turkey. In November 2019, Russia began to create a new helicopter base in northern Syria in the city of Qamishli , where the American military was previously based. In addition, Russian aviation uses two so-called jump airfields - in Shayrat and in Tiyas. The bases will be improved Both main bases of the RF Armed Forces in Syria should be expanded and improved, said Yury Shvytkin, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma’s defense committee. The port in Tartus should be able to receive ships of the Russian Navy for repairs while civilian and military parts of the airfield will be separated in Hmeimim, Interfax the parliamentarian. The civil war in Syria has been going on since 2011. According to rough estimates, it claimed the lives of more than 400 thousand people, millions were forced to leave their homes.