I knew we were near a Russian military base when I could read the names of shops, cafes and pharmacies written in Russian, in surrounding villages.
The Russians have been permanently based here since 2017, propping up the Assad regime and overseeing the war against their many opponents. And the local communities have benefitted financially from their presence.
But for how long this will all last is apparently the focus of talks between Moscow and the new government in Syria because they may not stay.
For now, though, what we do know, is that Russian convoys are withdrawing from bases across Syria and are heading for the Mediterranean Coast.
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On a dusty road near the main Russian entrance to Hmeimim air base near Latakia, I could see a convoy of Russian military vehicles trundling their way past the Russian-named shops.
They were armoured fighting vehicles, troop carriers, armoured police trucks, and supply lorries, some marked with the letter ‘Z’ – synonymous of course with the war in Ukraine.
Russian military vehicles wait to enter Hmeimim air base
But this is a war that is over.
The Russian soldiers onboard the vehicles basically tried to ignore us, or simply drop down into the gun turrets to avoid being filmed.
Above us, a Russian helicopter gunship constantly patrolled the area in bright blue skies, occasionally passing a huge white observation blimp – a constant presence at all major military bases the world over.
Jets would occasionally scream overhead, some landing, some taking off, while transport planes, some of the largest in the world, taxied to and fro on the airstrip.
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It’s a busy base and it appears to be getting busier – the convoys have been arriving for the last few days.
The entrance to the civilian airport, which shares the runway, is now guarded by HTS fighters. They were relaxed, sitting next to pick-up trucks with high-calibre machine guns mounted on the back.
HTS soldiers guarding military airport
I asked one of the soldiers on duty, Zakaria Harir, what his orders were, and if they had any contact with the Russians inside.
“The location of this airport is very important, and that’s why we’ve received orders to be here,” he told me.
“As soldiers, we don’t have any contact with them [the Russians], but there might be coordination between them and the country’s military council.”
Nobody knows what is going to happen to the Russians, but at the very least they are reported to be withdrawing to Russia’s two main bases on the coast, one of which is the Hmeimim base.
A Syrian tank loaded on a lorry by HTS fighters
On the road to Latakia, along the same route some of the Russian convoys take, the sheer number of destroyed or abandoned Syrian army military vehicles – tanks, rocket launchers, trucks, and armoured vehicles, and troop carriers – is quite astounding. It goes on for mile after mile after mile.
Some are burnt out and riddled with bullets, and it’s clear that despite the speed of the rebel advance, there were major exchanges of fire here. As we drove, we could see low-loader lorries backing up to tanks on the main highway.
HTS soldiers were using bulldozers to push the tanks on board, and the tanks appeared to be in working order.
HTS soldiers in the town near the Hmeimim air base
A soldier told me they had simply been abandoned by retreating Syrian army tank crews or had broken down. They were taking the tanks away to workshops to be fixed – some they said just need new batteries, others just needed an oil change.
It feels like they are building a new Syrian army, taking over and using the equipment of the old one.
The regime is gone, and its main supporter’s soldiers are drawing down. Syria is changing at breakneck speed – just a week ago it was a war.
