Translated material
Putin ordered the start of the withdrawal of troops from Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria. According to him, the task that he set for the army, "on the whole, has been completed." The president made this statement at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Putin is counting on the troop withdrawal to stimulate political negotiations.
In a conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Russian president said that the main part of Russian aviation would be withdrawn from Syria, but an aviation support point would be kept there to monitor compliance with the truce.
“I ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intensify the participation of the Russian Federation in organizing the peace process to resolve the Syrian problem,” Putin said.
- Russia has been participating in the military operation in Syria since September 30, 2015. Russian planes bombed targets pointed to by Syrian government forces. In addition, Russia carried out strikes from submarines and ships.
- According to Shoigu, during the operation, the Russian military killed about 2,000 terrorists. According to observers from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, about 1,700 civilians were killed during Russian bombing and shelling.
- Syria has been in a civil war since 2011. Three parties are involved in it - scattered groups of rebels, Assad's troops and the Islamic State (banned in Russia as a terrorist organization). They all fight against each other. Since February 27, 2016, a truce has been in force in the country, but it does not apply to the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups.