HMEIMIM AIR BASE, Syria – The Sukhoi fighter jet streaked through the clouds, its growl echoing over Russia's Hmeimim air base on the Syrian coast.
Abu Zaid, a bearded fighter with the Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al Sham, listened to the roar.
“That sound… we used to be afraid if these planes would bomb us in Idlib,” he said, referring to a rebel-held province that is a frequent target of Russia's campaign to support now-exiled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was .
But this time the Russian plane was not on a bombing mission. And Abu Zaid did not hide in a rebel bastion, but stood at the gate of Hmeimim. He was part of a group of insurgents tasked with protecting Russian soldiers who had been his opponents just eight days before.
A Russian plane takes off from Hmeimim air base.
(Leo Correa/Associated Press)
It was another sign of the seismic changes that have hit Syria after the rebels' lightning offensive this month wiped out Syrian army troops and drove out Assad – with Moscow unable or unwilling to help its ally.
A Russian military official, who declined to be named in accordance with military regulations, said at the Hmeimim air base on Monday that relations with the rebels were “pretty good.”
“We do not feel unsafe with the new government,” he said, adding that Russia had coordinated with the new authorities over the last week and hoped to maintain friendly relations with the new rebel government.
“We are in contact with the new heads of government, so none of us will take provocative steps against each other,” he said.
That wasn't always the case. In 2015, Russia came to Assad's aid, sending warplanes and soldiers that helped turn the tide in his favor in a civil war that began in 2011 and left more than half a million people dead.
But on December 8, the residents of Damascus awoke to find that the rebels were in charge.
On Monday, Assad said he initially fled to Hmeimim and planned to stay and fight there. But when Hmeimim came under heavy drone attacks, the Russians decided that he should head to Moscow.
The Russian military official denied that Assad or any members of his government or family left through Hmeimim.
A Syrian employee who works on the civilian side of the airport – which is adjacent to the base and shares runways with it – said the last planes to leave the civilian airport were on Sunday evening, including 10 flights carrying Iranian fighters back to Tehran brought.
Syrian fighters watch as Russian armored vehicles pass near the Hmeimim air base in the Syrian town of Hmeimim on Monday.
(Leo Correa/Associated Press)
Assad's departure leaves Moscow's military role in the country unclear. The Russian presence includes not only Hmeimim, but also Syria's only warm-water port in the nearby coastal city of Tartus. In 2017, Assad gave Russia free use of Hmeimim and Tartous as part of a 49-year lease.
The Russian military official said Russia's presence would be determined by the leaders of both countries, adding that in recent days Russian troops have reduced their logistical footprint and withdrawn from some of their far-flung bases.
Satellite imagery analysis firm Maxar Technologies released images from Hmeimim last week showing heavy transport aircraft preparing to receive cargo and attack helicopters likely being dismantled before transport.
“It’s not a retreat. “It’s just a transfer,” the Russian official said.
On Monday, Russian convoys could be seen on the coastal road to Hmeimim. Later, a heavy An-124 transport aircraft was seen taking off from Hmeimim, with a KA-52 attack helicopter flying in tow.
The presence of so many Russian troops in Hmeimim had an impact on the nearby town of Jableh, where storefronts just a few kilometers from the air base bore signs in Cyrillic and Arabic script. Restaurants tailored to the tastes of Russian soldiers.
Souvenir shops also sell jewelry and ceremonial items commemorating Russian-Syrian military cooperation. When the rebels took power, they ordered shopkeepers to destroy such goods, said Ali Daqouq, who owned a souvenir shop on Hmeimim Road.
But Daqouq was still hesitant to do so.
“They told me to get rid of this stuff, but I have so much of it,” he said, pointing to shelves of mother-of-pearl wooden boxes with Syrian and Russian flags and plaques with the faces of Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I guess I might as well sell what I can while the Russians are still here,” he said.