Defence ministry: First group of Russian warplanes leaves Syria for Russia

The first group of Russian planes has left the Hmeimim air base in Syria for their permanent locations, Tass news agency reported quoting the Russian Defense Ministry as saying.

"The group consists of the leader plane - a Tupolev-154 liner and multi-role Sukhoi-34 bombers," the ministry specified.

The planes will be leaving Hmeimim for Russia in groups.

"Each group consists of the leader - a military transport jet (a Tupolev-154 or Ilyushin-76) carrying engineering personnel and material assets and equipment, followed by Russian combat planes of different types," the defense ministry explained.

After crossing the Russian border the planes will head for their respective bases, making stops for refueling and maintenance, if need be, the ministry said.

The Kremlin press service released a statement on Monday evening that the Russian and Syrian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Bashar Assad, agreed to start withdrawing the main part of the Russian aviation task force from Syria because the Russian Aerospace Forces had fulfilled the fundamental tasks assigned to them. Russia will leave an air flight control center in the Syrian territory that will monitor the observation of the Syrian ceasefire.

Source: MENA