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Russia evacuated at least 400 soldiers from the Damascus area in recent days in coordination with the main rebel faction that ousted Bashar al-Assad's regime, an official from the group said.
Kamal Lababidi, a member of the political bureau of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, told the Financial Times in an interview that the soldiers were stationed at the headquarters of the Syrian army's Fourth Division in Qudsaya, a suburb of the capital.
Lababidi, who has long used a pseudonym, said Russian soldiers stationed at the embassy in Damascus had also left over the past week, and talks were underway to evacuate more soldiers across the country.
The future of Russia's presence in rebel-ruled Syria is unclear. Moscow has pledged to send troops to support its ally Assad during the civil war, but the exodus from Damascus is the latest indication that it is reducing its presence.
The evacuation also signals early signs of cooperation between Moscow and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham after years of fighting on opposite sides of a brutal conflict.
Lababidi, who negotiated the withdrawal on the Syrian side, said Russian military envoys met with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham at the rebels' de facto headquarters at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus this week to negotiate safe passage for the convoy.
“The Russians came, but only to coordinate the withdrawal of the bases,” he told Babidi.
He said that the Russians left Damascus in a convoy overland to the Hmeimim air base in Moscow in northwestern Syria. From there, the planes returned the soldiers to Russia.
A column of about 100 military vehicles was seen leaving the Damascus area – including armored vehicles, tractors, fuel tankers, mobile medical units and others – in a video provided to the Financial Times.
Although there are no plans to close the embassy, Lababidi said that a Russian official informed him that there would be a reduction in diplomatic activity.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it had evacuated some of its employees from Damascus, as well as employees in the city from the missions of North Korea, Belarus and Abkhazia, a breakaway state in the Caucasus whose independence from Georgia is recognized by five countries.
The ministry said that “the work of the Russian embassy in Damascus continues,” without further details, according to what was reported by RIA Novosti.
Russia has intervened in the civil war since 2015, deploying several thousand troops and extensive air support, which turned the course of the conflict in Assad's favor until opposition fighters launched a lightning attack this month. Assad fled to Moscow.
Russia said that its future in Syria would depend on negotiations with the new government in Damascus. During its attack, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham indicated its willingness to work with Moscow, saying that the two sides could find common ground in rebuilding the country.
Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said this week that Russia was holding “constructive” talks with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and hoped to retain the base for the “war against terrorism.”
The loss of Hmeimim and Moscow's naval base in Tartus will be a strategic problem as the two sites are used as logistics hubs for Russian activities in the Mediterranean and operations throughout Africa.
In exchange for keeping the bases, analysts have suggested that Russia could offer the new Syrian government money, energy or minerals as well as political support.
Satellite images of Hmeimim showed a recent increase in ground vehicles, the arrival of large transport aircraft and the dismantling of Russian helicopters and air defenses – all factors consistent with the reduction.
In response to a question about the future of the bases, Lababidi said that Russia is not currently evacuating Hmeimim, but rather withdrawing its personnel from other bases there.
Several prominent Syrian families close to the Assad regime have also been hiding in the Russian embassy in Damascus under Moscow's protection since the fall of the regime a week ago, three people with direct knowledge told the Financial Times.
A number of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham fighters guarding the vicinity of the embassy said on Sunday that they were stationed there to provide protection for people inside the diplomatic mission and did not restrict their movements.
The fighters said that Russian embassy employees sometimes asked them to accompany them and act as their guards while they went out to carry out some missions. Cars were leaving the building to buy groceries and make doctor visits.
But Lababidi said that Moscow had received instructions from the new Syrian government not to facilitate the departure of Syrians from the country.
