Russian troops leave al-Qamishli airport in northeastern Syria due to Damascus' operation against Kurds

The aggressor country russia is withdrawing its troops from the airport in the city of al-Qamishli in northeastern Syria, where a russian base has been operating since 2020. It was reported by Reuters with reference to its own sources.

The agency's interlocutors said that russian troops began a gradual withdrawal from the airport last week. One of the sources said that part of these forces is likely to be redeployed to the Khmeimim airbase in western Syria. The rest of the forces will return to russia.

Earlier today, a Reuters journalist saw russian flags still flying at al-Qamishli airport. He saw two transport aircraft with russian insignia on the runway.

The withdrawal of russian troops comes as the army of the new Syrian government is moving to take control of areas long controlled by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Reuters notes that last week, russian media wrote that the Syrian government may ask russia to leave the airport after the expulsion of Kurdish forces, as the russians "have nothing to do there."

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in October 2025, Bloomberg wrote that russian aviation resumed flights to the Khmeimim air base, where russian army units are based, after a nearly six-month pause.

In December 2024, the new Syrian government called on russia to reconsider its military presence in the country. At that time, some media outlets wrote that russians would probably have to leave the country. Later it became known that moscow would maintain its presence at the Khmeimim air base and in the port of Tartus.