Russia intends to establish 9 military posts in southern Syria
Russia is moving steadily to strengthen its military presence in Syria, by establishing new outposts in the south, along with its entrenched presence in the coast through the Hmeimim air base in Jableh.
A high-level Russian delegation visited Quneitra province on November 17, in a move that shows Moscow’s desire to expand its presence in a highly sensitive area near the occupied Golan Heights.
According to sources, the visit took place without any Turkish participation, contrary to what was promoted by some leaks about the existence of trilateral coordination.
It stressed that the absence of Turkish officers expresses a clear Russian desire to manage the issue of southern Syria exclusively through direct coordination between Moscow and Damascus.
The Russian delegation visited a number of military sites where Moscow had deployed troops in 2018 in coordination with the former regime, before reducing its presence after the fall of Bashar al Assad.
Among the most important points covered by the tour was Talul al Hammar, which is considered one of the most sensitive sites due to its proximity to the 1973 ceasefire line and its strategic importance in monitoring Israeli movements inside the Golan Heights.
Russia has decided to redeploy its units to nine military sites in southern Syria, especially in the countryside of Quneitra and Dara’a.
These sites were among the deployment points from which Moscow withdrew during the transition period, but the return to them comes as part of a new Russian strategy aimed at preventing any security vacuum that may benefit local or regional powers.
According to the sources, Russia maintained a permanent logistics point in Quneitra after the end of the tour, to assess the technical and engineering needs related to the reactivation of those sites, including the rehabilitation of infrastructure and supply lines.
According to the same sources, it’s expected that the practical steps for redeployment will begin in the coming weeks, with the gradual announcement of the reopening of some military sites before the end of the year.
These moves coincide with the visit of a large delegation from the Russian Ministry of Defense to Damascus a few days ago, in addition to the phone call that Russian President Vladimir Putin made with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following the visit of Syrian transitional president Ahmed al Sharaa to Moscow.
Its estimated that the southern Syrian file was a key focus of those talks.
Moscow attaches great importance to maintaining its bases in the Mediterranean, especially the Tartus naval base and the Hmeimim air base, as two main platforms for consolidating its military influence from the Eastern Mediterranean to Africa.
